Paranoia
by SaroksVenom
Summary: A new player enters the fray. Join Sarok as he struggles to survive swordland, all the while making new friends and family. The Death Game has nothing on the Devil Himself, after all. Told in first-person. Lisbeth/OC (the POV character), Kirito/Asuna. Complete.
1. Out To Get You

**A/N: You know, I've always been absolute shit at writing fanfiction. It doesn't matter what it's for, I just suck at creating a plot with the constraints of what's there already. I prefer making original works. But you know what? I fell in love with SAO last month, and I've decided to fuck it and make one last stab at writing the stuff. So a few precursors to my story:**

**1) This work is a self-insert, in essence. However, I will try my very best to avoid any stereotypes commonly associated with SI fics. Also, the POV will be first-person. That means there will be no perspective shifts. Edit Chapter 13: The only reason I have a perspective shift there is for the obligatory flashback to another character's point of view. It shouldn't be too confusing since it only covers a time of about 10 to 15 minutes (in story), but it's necessary.**

**2) I've drawn on influence and inspiration from two fics in particular that I'd like to give credit to: KnightEstoc's ****Nightblade**** series and Sgt. Assassin's ****Sword Art Online: A Life Redeemed, ****both of which I highly recommend. My character will pull characteristics from both Rythin and Yuuto, respectively.**

**3) As I mentioned, original work is my specialty, specifically poetry. So as a result, writing straight fiction is a bit of a problem for me. Therefore, and I know you'll hate it for this particular genre, I will be using some straight dialogue from the anime, though twisted a bit to fit the needs of the plot For your benefit (and mine), I'll try to use mostly original dialogue and only draw from the anime for lines I deem crucial.**

**4) I decided to title this fic ****Paranoia ****for two main reasons. Number 1: I am a very paranoid person in general. Number 2: My personality is based off of the very idea that anyone could be a threat. Though I find it difficult to find someone I don't like, I'm suspicious of them until they prove themselves. After all it isn't paranoia if they really are**

_Chapter 1: Out to Get You_

"Let's see, out… to… get… you." I proudly put the finishing touches on my story, saving the document and closing my laptop in one fluid movement. Pumped for what came next, I hurried to my bed and put my new NerveGear system over my head. I was so excited I was literally shaking. I couldn't believe that I had been one of the lucky few to get a copy of Sword Art Online, the first in a line of VRMMOs (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online for those who are curious) to be released. I had waited in line for three days and actually got the last copy to the game. As an avid gamer, I was drooling as I nurtured the game to my chest, not moving it from its spot my entire trek home as I didn't want to risk anyone stealing it.

I took a few deep breaths to calm my raging excitement and waited patiently for the calibration sequence to end. The server officially launched in 10 seconds. I waited with bated breath for the countdown to hit 0 and nearly shouted the key words to start the game: "Link Start!"

I was shot into a sea of color as the game initiated its startup sequence. Soon I came to the character customization screen, and pondered my design for a bit before deciding to make myself very similar to what I was in real life. I wanted to make it seem like I was really there, and no one would be the wiser. I hesitated for a moment when deciding on a name for my avatar, then grinned broadly. I tapped on the virtual keyboard a few times and smirked at the name I had chosen. "Sarok. Has a nice ring to it." With that statement hanging in the air I pressed enter and found myself back in the sea of color I was in before.

All at once the swirling stopped, and I opened my eyes, which I had closed at some point, to find myself fully immersed in what seemed to be the starting town. The Town of Beginnings, I believe was the name. Wasting no time, I made my way to a basic item vendor, looking for a weapon and some armor to use. Before I even bought the game I had debated heavily on what build of player to go for. There were so many to choose from, but the one that caught my eye was the stealth type. With stealth, people ignored you often, something I cherished in real life. Also, another added benefit was the ability to sneak up on almost anything with a high enough skill.

I opened the menu briefly to examine my stats and noticed almost immediately the lack of a log-out button. _Hmmm, _I thought, pressing a lazy finger to my chin, _that's weird. Whatever, the GMs will fix it at some point before I have to go._ I shrugged and went back to my player icon. I only had the basics of what I needed, and had started with only a minimum amount of col, the world's currency. Luckily, I was able to sell all my possessions fairly easily and buy new, improved versions of the armor I originally had. I also bought a curved dagger that was ideal for close combat and some potions.

Knowing that many players would be in too much awe of their surroundings to go level up, I took a basic mob-killing quest from a nearby NPC and headed into the wilderness and out of the starting area. I saw a few practicing players here and there, but it wasn't until about five minutes later that I realized two things. First, I was lost. Second, I didn't know how combat worked. I heaved a sigh and wandered for a bit until I heard the telltale sounds of players fighting and mobs dying. Excited, I rushed out of the forest I was in to find a small clearing with two players fighting the common boar-type enemy of the fields around.

The two stopped what they were doing only after I cleared my throat, both of them swinging hastily and pointing their weapons at me. One of them was clearly more experienced than the other, and I assumed he had played in the beta to the game. Shrugging, I put my hands above my head and called out to them: "Yo! I'm Sarok, and I don't know how to fight here! Any chance one of you gents would be able to help me out? Maybe you on the left? You seem to know your way around here pretty well." The character's eyes widened and I smirked. However, he lowered his sword and the other man followed reluctantly. It was clear who held the power.

"Kirito. Pleased to meet you, Sarok. This here's Klein. I'd be happy to help. But just out of curiosity, how'd you know I had experience in the game already?" I smiled and opened my mouth to speak as I strode to meet them, shaking both their hands at once with my arms crossed in the middle.

"Honestly, Kirito, I guessed. It wasn't too difficult to extrapolate the level of ease you feel in this environment. Your very posture speaks of confidence." My grin stayed in place and only grew wider as Kirito flushed and stammered out a quick thanks. One of my unique abilities was charisma, it seemed. "Besides that, Klein seems to follow your lead. This early in the game, unless you're good friends in real life then his actions suggest that you have experience already."

Kirito quickly recovered from his bout of bashfulness and started teaching me the basics of combat. It seemed that though you could fight of your own accord, it was intensely difficult to land a hit without the system's assistance. The system enabled a player to use Sword Skills, predefined combos and attacks meant to essentially do the fighting for you. Now, that didn't necessarily mean that the player didn't get any satisfaction from fighting; on the contrary, the player decided which skills to use and how to initiate them. They could still feel their weapons move and it was exhilarating. I rather enjoyed the happiness I got from slicing through the boars with my dagger.

Soon the sun was setting on the virtual world's horizon. I hadn't realized how late it was, getting too caught up in combat alongside my two new friends. We stopped after a time and walked together to a nearby cliff, sitting down and letting our legs hang over the edge. "Well, guys," I started, throwing an arm over each of their shoulders, "It's been fun and all, but I should be heading out about now. I've got class tomorrow morning and don't want to oversleep again. Hopefully the GMs have fixed that bug with the logout button."

"Yeah, I should be going too," Klein said, "I've got work in the morning and a pizza coming in about 15 minutes. Wait a sec, what the hell?" I glanced at Klein's open menu and saw that the logout button was still gone. I frowned and scratched my chin anxiously.

"That's weird," I murmured. "The bug should have been fixed by now. It's been four hours. What are the GMs playing at here?" I meant to say more but found myself caught in an involuntary teleport as a large gong sounded over the land.

When vision returned to me I discovered that we had been teleported back to the square in the Town of Beginnings. Unfortunately, the three of us had been sitting down at the time of the transportation, so we rather promptly fell to the ground. Letting out groans from the impact, Kirito, Klein and I untangled ourselves and stood shakily, looking to the sky as a golden dome formed over our heads. It appeared that every player in the game had been transported back to the square.

As we watched, a blood-like liquid dripped from the dome and formed a red-robed figure. The figure was massive and the hood was pulled low over its face, leaving it shrouded in darkness. The figure opened its mouth to speak and I suspected that it was going to address the concerns I had about the lack of a logout feature.

"Greetings, players. I am Akihiko Kayaba, and welcome to my game. As you may have already noticed, there is no option to log out in the menu. Don't despair, however. This is not a bug; in fact, this is a key feature of the game." Mutterings broke out among the crowd and I met eyes with Kirito worriedly. "You will not be able to log out until you clear all 100 floors, defeating the final boss. From there, every remaining player will be summarily logged out." I frowned as cries of distaste filled the air. The beta testers had only made it to floor 4 before the game came out, and that was after months of trying.

"That's not all, though," Kayaba continued, "If you die here in the game, the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave into your brain, killing you in the real world. I would advise you to work together to clear the game if you wish to survive. After all, 243 players have already departed from their lives." My mind went blank as I tried to process Kayaba's words. It made sense in a morbid sort of way; there was no way that the developer would lie about something this large. It would cause too much bad press.

Shouts of despair now filled the square. The mutterings were long gone and players nearly started a riot trying to process the events unfolding before them. "I'd advise you calm yourselves. I still have a few things to say before I let you have free reign on my world." Kayaba's figure rose higher in the sky. "Many of you are wondering 'How could Akihiko Kayaba, creator of Sword Art Online, do all this?' Well, it's simple. My goal has already been achieved. I wanted to create this world and intervene in it. That is why I created Sword Art Online." Alright, now that was sick.

Unfortunately, I found myself sympathizing with the monster before me. His motivations made sense. Before I could properly react to the information I had received from the creator, he spoke one last time. "I would like to leave you all with a parting gift. If you please, look into your inventories to find a useful item for the coming journey." Curious, I opened my inventory with most of the other players to find an object simply titled 'Hand Mirror'. I snorted, taking it out and looking into it. However, it did nothing. Confused, I gazed towards Kirito and Klein to find that their appearances had completely changed. It seemed that the mirror had reverted our avatars to the form we had in reality. Lucky for me, my avatar was my body.

"Klein, Kirito, that you guys?" I said. Klein still had pink hair, it seemed, but overall it was shorter and he was lankier. Kirito, on the other hand, was shorter and skinnier. He looked to be about 13 years or so old. Klein looked about in his early twenties.

Kirito replied first, a steely glint of determination in his eyes. "Yeah, it's me. I see you haven't changed, Sarok. How peculiar of you to use your actual appearance for your avatar. Klein looks different, though. Were you trying to compensate for something with that avatar, Klein?"

"Hey!" Klein regained his senses and protested our teasing. It seemed that we turned to humor in our shock at the words of Kayaba. "I resent that."

"Whatever. Anyway, we should go. I know how to get to the next town without too much trouble, even if we are only level 5 or so. You guys up for it?" Kirito asked hopefully.

"Sure, I'm in. It's not like I've got anyone else to hang out with, after all." I grinned, clapping a hand on Kirito's shoulder.

"Uh, sorry guys, but I've got some friends in here with me, and I can't, uh, I can't leave them. I've gotta go." Klein looked skittish but we understood, nodding and turning to run to the next area.

"Oh, and Klein? Don't die on us." I said, shooting him a friend request and urging Kirito to do the same. Kirito nodded once and opened his menu to send the message, and Klein rubbed the back of his head with one hand.

"Ha ha, uh, thanks guys. Oh, and Kirito? You look a sight better like this. I'd say the same to you Sarok but you didn't exactly change." I laughed.

"I'd say that unkempt face of yours looks hella better on you Klein. See you in a bit!" Kirito and I turned to leave. I lifted a hand in the air in a cheeky wave goodbye, smiling softly. We'd see him again, I was sure of it. Klein seemed to be a strong son of a bitch, and if anyone could survive this death game, it would be him.

Kirito broke into a sprint at the city limits. I kept up fairly easily. As we ran, a pair of wolves spawned in front of us, growling menacingly. It would be no problem for the two us. Laughing, I pulled out my dagger and lunged through the wolf as it pounced, even as Kirito shouted a cry of defiance at the world. He had seamlessly killed his opponent and we continued on into the unknown. Well, it was unknown for me. He had an idea of where he was going. I laughed harder at the thought. We were going to survive. We wouldn't fall to Kayaba's meddling. Kirito, Klein, myself, we were stronger than that.

**A/N: And that't the end, folks. This is likely the only other author's note that will be put in the story until the final chapter, so enjoy it while it lasts. All told, the story is 60k ish words. Enjoy it.**


	2. Too Bold

_Chapter 2: Too Bold_

It had been a month. A whole freaking month since the game started, and there was no progress made on the first floor. None whatsoever. We didn't even know where the boss was, let alone how to defeat it. I had traveled with Kirito all over to search for the fucker, but we had no luck in finding anything but basic enemies. We were discouraged, but lucky for us we had been invited to a player meeting in a town called Tolbana.

I took a seat next to Kirito in the amphitheater where the meeting was scheduled to be held, leaning back and crossing my arms, sighing and waiting rather impatiently for the event to start up. We were in the top row and the only other occupant was a figure in a brown cowl. I couldn't tell whether the figure was male or female, but decided not to worry about it. They were too far away to be an immediate threat, and I didn't see that changing since we were surrounded by players eager to find the boss.

Eventually one player rose and made his way to the front, facing us. He was dressed as a medieval knight, and oddly enough he had blue hair. Electric blue. Exasperated, I threw my hands in the air, startling Kirito. He looked at me strangely, but I waved him off and sat up, gazing down at the apparent coordinator of the get together. "Hello!" He had a booming voice that commanded attention. That was good, and I nodded in satisfaction. He had my attention. "My name is Diabel, and the job I rolled in this game is that of the knight!" Laughs broke out across the crowd, and I put my head in my hands. That was an awful joke.

"Hey! Do you want to get out of here or not?" That got everyone's attention focused back on him. "My party found the boss room at the top of the tower yesterday." Excited murmurings broke out among the crowd. "We have determined that it would be impossible for one player or party to solo the boss, and so I called this meeting. I would like for you to split into teams of six." My eyes widened and I swore. With just Kirito and myself we needed four more players. I turned to meet Kirito's eyes and I was shocked to find that he was all the way on the other side of the amphitheater speaking with the figure I had noticed earlier.

Sighing once more, I stood, stretched, and walked over to join my friend. Just as I arrived, he sent the player a party invite. The figure, who I had by now determined to be a female, calmly pressed accept and murmured a thank you. "What's your name, hon? I'm Sarok, Kirito's one and only companion. We'll be seeing each other quite a bit, and I'd like to get to know you beforehand. Gotta know if we can trust you, see?" She flinched and Kirito chuckled, embarrassed at my boldness.

"I – I'm Asuna. Nice to meet you, Sarok. Kirito." Her voice was quiet. I had to strain to hear, and by doing so managed to trip over my own two unmoving feet and fall quite comically into her lap, startling her. "AAH!" she screamed, smacking me.

"Fuck woman that hurt. Well, it should have in any case, but this stupid game took away the stupid pain. I just tripped. And what are you laughing at, bastard?" Kirito was doubled over. Standing slowly, I brushed the imaginary dust off my shoulders and took a seat between the two, sitting straight and not looking in either direction. Unfortunately, our spectacle had drawn the attention of every player in the stadium. I sighed and waved at them to look towards the front.

Soon Diabel raised a hand for silence and I sighed in relief. The storm had passed and I had managed only to humiliate myself a little bit. However, before he could speak a man with bright orange spiked hair jumped out of the crowd and asked to have a moment. Curious, I leaned forward on one hand and listened to him, deciding not to pass judgment until he opened his mouth. "Yo! My name's Kibaou, and before we go any further some of you have to apologize!" I furrowed my brow.

"You mean the ex-beta testers, right Kibaou?" Diabel chimed in.

"Yeah! 2000 of us have died thanks to this game, and all of those deaths were utterly preventable! Since day one, the beta testers have hogged all the best spawns and taken all the best quests without a drop of concern to any of those weaker players! Thanks to them, I've seen friends die before my eyes! So if any of you bastards are in this crowd, and I know that there are some of you, step out now and apologize! And just to add to it, give back all your items and money and share the wealth a little bit!"

This guy was bitter. I looked at Kirito and noticed his fists clenched in his lap, sweat running down his face. I put a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. He calmed down and stammered a quick thanks before turning back to the front with a glint of steel in his eyes. He was young, younger than me. I could tell by those eyes. I sighed. By the end of this ordeal we would all be the same age. The ghosts of the past would haunt us no matter where we went or who we hid behind. It was sad.

Mutinous whispers had broken out in the stands while I comforted Kirito. Suddenly a large black man stood and made his way to the front, pulling out a brown leather-bound book. I recognized it as the beginner's book handed out by the beta testers in the Town of Beginnings and grinned madly. This was going to be interesting. "You got a copy of this book, right?" Kibaou nodded uncertainly, not sure where the conversation was headed. "You know who was handing this out? The beta testers you seem intent on bullying. In this book are all the good quests and all the best spawns. They handed these out in the Town of Beginnings to every passing player. Therefore, the only players at fault for the deaths are the victims themselves. Now sit down."

I snickered as Kibaou followed the man's advice, his mouth wide open. "My name's Agil, by the way. Figured you'd like to know that." Diabel nodded his thanks to Agil and the large man retook his seat.

"Thank you, Agil. Now, according to this book the first floor boss is named Illfang the Kobold Lord, and he's a heavy. He starts the fight with a basic long sword, but when his health gets into the red on the fourth bar, he switches to a Talwar and a new attack pattern. Another catch are the Ruin Kobold Sentinels, the boss's lackeys. I'll lead Squads A and B against Illfang while Squads C and D take care of the mobs. Squads E and F stand by and switch into the battle when needed. Now, I'll split your parties into the squads."

I tuned Diabel out when I learned what squad I would be a member of, throwing an arm around my companions' shoulders just as I had with Kirito and Klein a month prior. "We'll make it through this, guys." I said, sure of myself. The two glared lightly at me but stopped when they saw my smile. It wasn't a smile of joy but one of determination. It was a smile of hope. I looked each of them in the eyes and nodded once. We were going to do the impossible: We would survive the game.

The meeting ended after a few more minutes and the three of us made our way to the center of Tolbana with the rest of the raiding party. They decided on a preemptive celebration before the fight and I rolled my eyes in wonder at some peoples' stupidity. By the time the party really started it was dark outside, and I found myself on a stone wall in between Kirito and Asuna. They had gotten out some bread to eat and Kirito put some cream on his, offering it to both of us. I politely declined, but Asuna accepted, tentatively spreading it on her roll and taking a bite. I blinked and the bread was gone. She was a damned fast eater apparently.

"Thank you." Asuna thanked us for whatever reason. I was about to say something but she beat me to it. "I was ready to die. I didn't know what to do and I couldn't help but think about how this is the reality we're in. I was ready to give up and the two of you came and stopped me. So thanks." I was dumbfounded. There was no reason to thank us.

"Well," Kirito started, "There's no reason to thank us, but I for one accept your thanks. See, this world we live in now, it's not just a place we scramble for survival in. Our goal isn't just to survive and fight and strive for the end. This world is our home for however much longer, and we've got to live. Right now, this world is no different than the real one out there beyond the code. We've still got to laugh and live and love. I won't let the threat of death stop me." I nodded at my friend's speech.

"He's right, you know. As a person I'm as paranoid as you can get," I added. "In the real world I always carry a knife, and I always judge who's going to be the biggest threat in any situation. I'm always careful about who I'm with and where I am. In here it's no different. There's still the same threat of death. That won't stop me though. I'm going to continue on making bad jokes and laughing and hanging out with friends. I just have a clearer goal here. And when we get out, I'm going straight to Kayaba, wherever the bastard is, and I'm going to beat him to a pulp over this shit." I finished with a flourish.

Asuna smiled softly and murmured another thanks. Unashamedly, I put my arms around their shoulders again, laughing under my breath. "Remember to live guys, remember to live. Even if it's the last thing you do." Kirito snickered at my poor attempt at humor. "Now let's go find an inn and beat that boss tomorrow. Ten AM, right-o Kirit-o?"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up Sarok. I'll make sure to get your lazy ass awake in the morning just like any other time." We shared a chuckle and stood, pulling Asuna along by her shoulders. I don't think she minded though. We found an inn through our banter and separated, making our way to our rooms with smiles on our faces. _I've got one chance. One chance to make it through this. I can't allow myself to do anything stupid. I've got to survive for them. I have to protect them._ I fell asleep with those thoughts running through my head.

*BZZZT*! *BZZT*! *BZZT*! My alarm blared in my ears. Groaning, I sat up in my bed and looked about groggily. Sighing, I stretched and equipped my armor and weapons, stumbling out of my room and straight into another player that was in the hall. "Oh come on, it's barely nine o'clock and I'm already running into people. Wearily I stood and held out a hand to help up the player I had inadvertently downed. "Sorry about that, it seems to be a talent of mine to knock people over when I meet them. I'm Sarok, and you are?"

"My name's Lisbeth, and it's quite alright. It was my fault too when I think about it. I wasn't watching where I was going. It's nice to meet you, Sarok. May I ask what you're doing up so early?"

"Early? Wait, isn't it nine o'clock?" I pulled up my menu and checked the time. "Son of a bitch, it's six. Well, I guess I've got four hours to kill before the raid. Say, Lisbeth, how you feel about getting some breakfast? I'm pretty hungry right now, and I've got time."

My new acquaintance giggled and acquiesced. We made our way to a local breakfast restaurant, taking a seat in the back corner. That was my bad, but I didn't want to get ambushed. After we ordered, Lisbeth asked me what I was doing the rest of the day again. "Oops, I guess I didn't really answer your question, did I? Well, at ten this morning I'm helping out with the boss raid. Now that I've answered your question, I'll fire it right back at you. What are you doing up so early?" I raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled and opened her mouth.

"I wanted to go out early and get a look at the wares of some of the local vendors. I'm training to be a blacksmith, see, and I want to get a look at prices and qualities of the weapons and armor."

Hmm, that could be useful. "Hey that sounds awesome. In the future, when you've improved your skill, could I use you as my exclusive blacksmith? Pretty please?" Lisbeth blushed. "Great! I'll just send you a friend request now, and whenever I have a problem with my armor or need improvements on my dagger I'll come to you! Sound good?" I laughed at her face. She was bright red and kept trying to stammer something I couldn't hear.

"W-W-Well I g-g-g-guess you could if you r-really want to." Ah, that's what she was trying to say. My grin grew wider and I leaned across the table into her face. Lisbeth's face darkened a few shades of red, if that was possible.

"Oh, come on Lis, I can't be _that _attractive. I haven't even asked you out yet. Oh. Wait, that's right, I did! And you said yes and here we are. Does that make this a date?" Lisbeth's mouth dropped open in shock and I laughed loudly. I was out of control and loving it. It had been awhile since I had really let myself go. I don't know what triggered it either. Maybe it was the beautiful girl I was sitting with.

"If you want it to be then it could be," she whispered, almost too quiet for me to hear. I sobered quickly and leaned back nervously. This was no time to joke. How I managed to get into these conversations I'd never know, but here I was with a girl I found quite attractive in more ways than one telling me that she wanted to form a relationship with me. I sighed under my breath and chuckled at myself.

"I think I'd like that," I finished as softly as she had whispered, "but I'm not sure if I can do that right now. I barely know you, and even though it seems right to me, my judgment's never been quite on the dot with beautiful women. Could I get back to you in a few floors after I get to know you a bit better? And you the same to me?" Sharply, Lisbeth looked up at me. I guess she didn't mean for me to hear her. A tear slowly made its way down her cheek and my eyes widened. "Shit, did I do that? I didn't mean to, I'm sorry. I swear. It was never my intention to hurt you."

Lisbeth shook her head though. "I'm not sad, dumbass. I'm happy. I've waited so long to hear someone say they were interested in more than a friendship with me. I'm more than willing to wait. You promise you'll get back to me at some point?" Her eyes were wide and hopeful.

"Yeah, 'course! I promise." I smiled and took her hands in mine. "Unfortunately, I've got to go though. See, I've got a boss to kill if I'll ever be able to make good on my promise. I'll see you in a few floors, right? Message me if you need anything." She nodded and I made my way to the door, my friend behind me. "They say the most powerful fighters are those who have something, or someone, to fight for. I guess I've found my 'someone'." I grinned broadly and took off running into the town, holding a hand up in a three-fingered wave to that 'someone'.

I caught up with the boss party just before they entered the dungeon. I had been running later than I thought. Kirito nudged me and asked where I had been, but I shrugged him off and said I'd tell him later. He nodded and we turned to face the doors to the boss room, which we had walked to at some point. I didn't really notice. I was too distracted with the thought of Liz.

Diabel turned to face us and shouted some words of encouragement before throwing the doors to the room open with a flourish and striding into them. Every player in every party in every squad followed him, and the doors shut behind us with a boom. We were in a long banquet room of sorts with tinted glass windows on either side casting light of all colors onto the ground. The ceiling was decidedly blue, and I thought it was appropriate for the Lord of the Kobolds.

Finished examining my surroundings, I turned to face the front and noticed the boss. Fat, purple, and massive, Illfang stood lazily in the center of the room with his sword hanging at his side. The Sentinels saw us before Illfang did, I noted with some amusement, and they pointed and clicked before lumbering toward us. Diabel ordered the squads in charge of the Sentinels to attack and turned to face Illfang with the rest of the raiding party. Kirito and I looked at each other, nodded once, and jumped into the fray.

The first two Sentinels I found myself facing tried to team up and attack me, one aiming high while the other aimed low. I spun out of reach and vaulted over them, using their skulls as leverage and slamming them into each other. Dazed, the mobs stumbled apart and tried half-heartedly to ram their weapons through me, but I easily dodged and brought my heel out, tripping the closer Sentinel. Finally pulling out my dagger, I plunged it through the enemy's head, gazing appreciatively as it burst into polygons. I sensed a presence behind me and dropped to the floor, rolling to the left and hopping back up as a hammer was brought down where I used to be. Grinning with battle madness I slashed off the monster's arm at the shoulder and made a large cut from its new stump to its waist, laughing madly as it exploded behind me.

I looked around and saw that Kirito and Asuna had disposed of their respective enemies and nodded. The three of us regrouped in the middle of the hall and looked on at Illfang's health as the last bar dropped into the red. The group assaulting the boss dropped back to be with the rest of us while the boss changed phases. Diabel yelled at us to stay back and went in for the kill, against the plan he himself created. My eyes widened and Kirito shouted a warning as Diabel charged. The boss didn't pull out the sword described in the book! Instead, it pulled out some fork-looking blade and started hopping around the room at high speeds. "NO! DIABEL DON'T! THE BOSS ISN'T—" but Kirito's warning fell short as Illfang slammed his weapon into Diabel's form, launching him back towards us.

Kirito and I sprinted to where Diabel lay, and I cradled his head in my hands. "Here, I've got a healing crystal for you, you'll live through this-" But Diabel stopped me.

"It's too late for me. Go on, beat the boss. I know you can do it. Kirito. Sarok." My eyes widened and a single tear dropped down as Diabel exploded before me. My face twisted into a snarl and I stood with Kirito. He looked the same as me and we charged Illfang with screams of fury ringing in the air. Kirito launched himself into Illfang as I hopped onto his back, slicing and hurting and stabbing and doing as much damage as possible before jumping off.

Panting, I landed on the ground next to a worried-looking Asuna. "Switch," I spat. We had went over the meaning of Switching before the battle started. I was too weary to go on fighting, so Asuna took off into the fray as Kirito blocked a vicious swipe from the boss. I blinked and the adrenaline in me washed away. Asuna had left her cowl behind when she sped to engage Illfang and I noted with no small amount of satisfaction that she was blindingly fast. She was faster than even me, and I specialized in speed and stealth. She stabbed Illfang a half a dozen times in each calf and ran back to me, her long auburn hair settling on her back when she stopped.

It appeared that neither of our staminas were built for soloing a boss, and so we watched as Kirito dug deeper and deeper into the monster. Finally, with one slice from shoulder to waist, Illfang burst into polygons and the congratulations text popped up in his place. Kirito dropped to his knees in exhaustion even as the room burst into cheers and applause. Wearily, I made my way to Kirito's side, putting my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me and I saw his eyes had changed. "Hey. We did it. It's done. Diabel knew what was happening. He was a beta tester too, wasn't he?" Kirito nodded mutely. "Come on, let's go. We've got ninety-nine floors left to beat, and you're one of the strong ones."

Kirito nodded again and stood quietly. Suddenly a cry broke out among the cheers. "WHY?! WHY DID YOU LET DIABEL DIE?!" It was Kibaou. He had tears streaming down his face. "YOU KNEW THE BOSS WASN'T LOOKING RIGHT! WHY DID YOU LET HIM DIE? OH, I GET IT. YOU WERE A BETA TESTER, WEREN'T YOU?!" Worried, I looked at Kirito before striding to Kibaou and promptly punching him in the throat.

"What the _fuck _are you saying, Kibaou?! Diabel DIED in MY arms and you have the GALL to blame Kirito? What the fuck are you doing?" I was pissed. Agil stood behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. "We're all together here, fool, don't you see that? I understand you're grieving, I considered him a good man who didn't need to die. But he made the choice to break formation. Not Kirito, not me, and sure as _fuck _it wasn't you. So think before you open your mouth next time, asshole!" I stormed away only to hear a deep and insane laugh from Kirito.

Cautiously, I turned to him and saw he had equipped the item he got for scoring the last hit on Illfang. The Coat of Midnight looked good on him, I noted in shock. Kirito stopped laughing and turned to face us. "Don't you dare compare me to those noobs, Kibaou. Even you are better than them. Hell, they didn't even know how to level up! No, no, I knew the boss's patterns because I've fought monsters with his skills on higher floors. Fuck, I made it to floor 10 in the beta!" Kirito laughed again and I finally understood his goal. He was taking the heat off the other beta testers by drawing hate upon himself. It was a bold move. Too bold, perhaps. Just as I had been with Lisbeth.

Kibaou had stood and recovered from my punch. "Then you- you- you're _worse _than the beta testers. You- you- you're a fucking _cheater!" _The other members of the party started mumbling mutinously. "Yeah, he's a beta tester _and _a cheater." "He's a Beater!"

"Ooh, I like that one. Yes, I am a Beater. From now on, don't confuse me with those other testers." Kirito smirked and strode towards the door to the second floor. I drew on my last dredges of strength to run up to him before he could go through, Asuna right behind me. "Sarok. Asuna." We stopped just short of the stairs to the door. Kirito had one hand on the handle and with the other dissolved our party. "You have the potential to be strong. When you find someone you trust, and they ask you to join their party, listen to them." With that Kirito walked into the light and entered the second floor.


	3. The Start of Something New and Exciting

_Chapter 3: The Start of Something New and Exciting_

It had been 6 months since the first floor was cleared, and we had made good progress on the front lines. The floors had been cleared up to level 28, and spirits were high. Most of us had settled well into life in the game, but in the first few months many committed suicide in helplessness. They didn't want to face reality. I had met up with Kirito a few times since our last foray, but nothing came of it. Eventually, the dagger I was using broke during a particularly challenging fight in a higher-level dungeon. From there, I sprinted out as fast as I could. I had foolishly forgotten to bring both a partner and backup.

I had messaged Lisbeth, who I spent a good amount of time hanging out with. She had opened a small shop out of the way on the 11th floor to practice her trade and sell to the weaker players. I was down there to meet her and get a new dagger, but was running a bit late because I ran out of teleport crystals too and had to walk back to town to switch floors. By the time I got onto the floor it was 22:00, and I messaged Liz with an apology. She shrugged it off and I found an inn to stay at with relative ease.

I walked into the bar area of the inn and was shocked to see Kirito with a guild. I noticed almost immediately the shield next to his name that signified he was also in a guild, likely with the surrounding players, and my eyes widened. Kirito was a solo player on the front lines; what the hell was he doing down on the 11th floor with a bunch of level 20 players? I walked over to the group and caught Kirito's eyes. "Kirito? What are you doing here?" I refrained from mentioning anything about the higher floors, catching a nod from him that said his new buddies didn't know the truth.

"Hey, you know this guy, Kirito? He looks pretty strong, how do you know him?" one of the players asked.

"We were part of the first floor boss raid together. We partied with each other and stayed friends ever since. Haven't really seen him lately though. Where have you been, Sarok?" Kirito asked, genuinely curious.

"I was on the front lines until recently. I just hit level 50 yesterday and needed to come back down here. My dagger broke and my blacksmith opened a shop down here in this town. I'm going to stop by tomorrow and get a new one. How'd you guys meet my friend here? I'm Sarok, by the way." The group looked at me in awe. It wasn't very often they saw a player with as high a level as me.

"Kirito saved us in the Labyrinth and we asked him to join our guild, the Moonlit Black Cats! He's awesome, and even better he's only like Level 20, the same as us!" I raised an eyebrow at Kirito. These people knew less than I thought. Kirito was actually a level behind me. I had just seen him in the Floor 27 dungeon the week before.

"Hey, Kirito, mind if I borrow you for a minute? I have to tell you something." He nodded and followed me into my inn room. "What are you playing at here, man? You're putting these players in danger because of the lies you're telling them!"

My friend glared at me but his anger subsided when he saw I was only worried. "I know, Sarok. I just- they act so much like a family. And I guess I wanted to be included in that family. I'm afraid that if I tell them my true level they won't accept me."

I sighed. "Kirito, my friend, you can be a real fool sometimes. These players, if they truly are a family, will accept you whether you're level 20 or level 60. You saw how they treated me. I don't think you have anything to worry about, but it's not my decision to make you tell them. You do what you want." I put my hands on his shoulders. When Kirito looked up I drew him into a hug. "If this goes bad, remember I'm here for you. Never forget that, got it? You call me if something goes wrong."

After a time I separated from him and shooed him out of my room. "I've got to sleep at some point, man. Can't stay up looking after your ass all the time. I have a date with the beautiful blacksmith tomorrow." I smirked and shut the door on my friend, climbing into bed and closing my eyes. I was worried, but I trusted Kirito to take care of himself. I had bigger problems, like my plans for when I saw Liz the next day. Soon enough, though, I was dead asleep with my alarm set to wake me up early in the morning.

*BZZT*! *BZZT*! *BZZT*! My damn alarm woke me up again and I grinned. Even though I hated it, the last time that alarm went off so early I met Liz, and I stood quickly, stretching and hearing my spine pop with no small amount of satisfaction. I equipped casual wear and walked out of the inn, deciding to stop at the 22nd floor forest first. There were some flowers I had been eyeing for a while and I decided to pick them the previous night. I was done deliberating, and I was going to take the next step and make good on my promise to Lisbeth.

I teleported to the peaceful floor and made my way to the lake where I had seen the flowers. When I arrived, I leaned down to pick them up into my inventory and stood, turning to go back to the teleporter. I still had one more errand to run, and I moved on to the 1st floor, heading back to the Town of Beginnings. I came back every so often for visits, and walked to the object of my errand, Agil. He ran an item store on the 20th floor, and most all his profits went to players on the lower floors. We had agreed to meet before I saw Lisbeth, though I didn't tell him why I needed to see him.

"Ho, Sarok!" Agil called to me with his booming voice, breaking me out of my reverie. "What did you need to meet me for?" I smiled. Agil was as easygoing as they went for such an imposing figure, and I knew he'd give me what I wanted.

"Ho, Agil. I have two requests for you. I need two teleportation crystals to different places. I need one keyed to my location at any given moment, and I need one keyed to your shop. Could you do that for me?" I was all business. "I'll pay whatever price you name. That's how important it is that I get these."

"Whoa, okay, I can get them for you no problem, man. I'd ask what they're for, but I already know about her, so I'll pass." My eyes widened and I chuckled. Agil knew; of course he knew. "In light of that though, I'll consider this a wedding gift and not charge you anything."

Alright, so I wasn't expecting that. I blushed crimson and stuttered. "Th-th-that's not – I mean, w-w-we're not I—"Agil laughed uproariously at me. I glared at him and held out my hand for the crystals. That only made him laugh harder, but he transferred the items into my inventory regardless. Retaining as much dignity as I could, I made my departure with my head held high, sprinting to the teleporter as soon as Agil couldn't see me anymore.

Eagerly, I traveled back to the 11th floor and found myself at Lisbeth's shop. Knocking on the door, I contemplated the pros and cons of what I was going to do next. However, my musings were cut short when I heard a muffled "Come in!" from inside. Opening the door and striding in, I said nothing but headed straight for Lisbeth, ignoring everything and everyone else. Vaguely I heard my name but I only had eyes for Liz.

"I'm done thinking about it," was all I said before I took hold of Lisbeth's shoulders and kissing her on the mouth. Lisbeth's eyes went wide and she stood stock still for only a moment before returning my kiss, grabbing the back of my head with one hand and pulling me closer to her. She was a rough one that was for sure. She forced her tongue into my mouth and I grinned before playing cat and mouse with her.

Eventually we parted and I pulled out the flowers and crystals. "These are for you," I said, out of breath but grinning like a loon. "There are two crystals; one is set to my location at any time and the other is tied to Agil's shop. Use them if you're ever in trouble. You mean too much to me to lose you in some stupid fight, Liz." Lisbeth looked at the flowers, then the crystals, then took them into her inventory and tackled me in one smooth motion, reattaching her lips to mine. I laughed softly and pulled her closer to me, rolling us over and deepening the kiss.

Too soon we were forcibly parted by the clearing of a throat. Separating, I managed somehow to disentangle myself from my partner and stand, pulling her with me to face the owner of the throat. Blushing like mad, I put an arm around Liz's waist and turned only to see Asuna's laughing visage. I only blushed harder – I seemed to be doing that a lot recently. "I didn't know you and Sarok knew each other, Liz! Even if I had, I don't think I expected you to be quite _this _close!"

"Asuna," I started mischievously, having recovered from my earlier surprise, "You're telling me you don't have a boy you're interested in yourself? Maybe a certain black-haired swordsman, hmm?" Asuna blushed and I saw my gamble had hit its mark. I had seen something growing between the two and figured that she had started falling in love. Kirito was clueless as ever though, as he was prone to be in those situations. "Ah, I see I'm correct. Say, Liz, when do you think those two are going to get together, hm? Sometime in the next millennium with any hope."

Lisbeth laughed and Asuna glared at us before leaving the store in a huff. I turned to my partner, saying, "I didn't know we had a mutual friend in Asuna. When did you meet her?"

"We met during one of my sad days out in the real world." I knew what she meant. We had the same problem: for the longest time we would be happy but there's always that one day where we're depressed. Luckily, we had each other to cheer up, so it was never a large problem. The day Liz was speaking of was a day I wasn't around. I was probably on the front lines. "She found me and cheered me up. She took me out to lunch and we became friends. We've stayed in contact ever since. And guess what, Sarok? I'm her exclusive blacksmith too!"

"That's great, hon. So turns out I'm not your only customer after all?" Liz slapped me lightly and I chuckled. "Anyway, now that Asuna's gone, what do you say we continue what we were doing before she interrupted us?" At this Lisbeth grinned but frowned soon after, shaking her head sorrowfully.

"Sorry, Rok, but I've got a couple of special orders I have to attend to. I don't have time for any of that, so why don't we talk for a bit instead? I can work and talk at the same time, as you well know."

"It's no problem. I have other reasons for coming here anyways. See, uh, I kind of broke my dagger and need a new one. You have anything for me or will I need to wait until after you're done with the other orders. I mean, it's not a huge deal for me to wait, after all, I'm with such beautiful company, but even so…"

Lisbeth laughed. The sound brought untold volumes of relief to my mind. "You're so awkward sometimes, Rok. It makes me wonder why I put up with you. Must be that I pity you." I grumbled. "On the other had… WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU DOING THAT YOU BROKE YOUR ONLY DAGGER?!" The sudden shift in tone and volume made me fall to the floor in a heap of limbs. Terrified, I crawled to my feet and backed up against the wall as Lisbeth chided me. "You of all people should know to be careful, Mr. Stealth. Cloak and dagger tactics are supposed to help you _evade _this kind of problem. I think you're going to have to wait for this one."

I sighed. I deserved that one. "Um, well, see Liz, I used my 'cloak and dagger tactics' to escape after I broke the dang thing. I didn't have anything else with me. Including teleport crystals." Lisbeth put her head in her hands before groaning loudly. I winced. I probably shouldn't have said that, but I couldn't lie to her, and I had a fascinating tendency to share too much information with the wrong people. That was probably a factor into why I was so paranoid all the time.

"What am I going to do with you?" she mumbled, trailing off into a stream of expletives. "Ooooh, that's a good idea." She turned to me and I flinched back, expecting a blow. "No more kissing." She stated simply. I raised an eyebrow, worried for only a split second.

"Wait, Liz, doesn't that inconvenience you just as much as it does me?" I asked. She frowned, and I thought I had won.

"Hmmm, well, yes I suppose you're right," she admitted, and I grinned in victory, "But that doesn't excuse your deplorable behavior. I think I'll just impose the rule on you anyway, and when I drop it we'll just have to make up for lost time." Damn.

"Is there anything I can do to make you change your mind?" I was grasping for straws. I had just kissed her for the first time not fifteen minutes ago, and already she was taking away the amazing experience.

Lisbeth thought for a moment. "There is one thing. You could get down on your knees and beg for my forgiveness, then you could be my errand boy for the next seven days…" she trailed off as I obeyed her instantly. There was no one else in the shop and my pride could suffer for a just cause such as this. Even if it was petty.

"I'll be your errand boy for as long as you need, my humble Mistress. Please forgive my transgressions and allow me these seven days of blessed servitude. I beg of you." My girl's mouth dropped open. Suddenly she let out a full-blown laugh and I grinned. I was safe for the time being.

"I guess you're forgiven, servant. I suppose your first task will be to go get me the metal I need to make that dagger of yours." I stood and embraced her happily.

"Before I go, Liz," I started, waiting for her to look me in the eyes, "I'd like to formally ask you to bestow upon me the greatest honor of having your beautiful self as my girlfriend." She blushed and kissed me hard and long.

"Of course I will, silly boy. I would have thought that our argument just now proved that I was plenty willing." Regardless, I shouted for joy and left the store with a spring in my step. It was finally official. I couldn't believe I had waited so long to do that. I quickly made my way into town and back to my room at the inn to pick up a few things I had left before teleporting to the 21st floor to collect the metal that Liz had wanted.

Unfortunately, I quite swiftly realized that I didn't have the right weapon for my job, and I sighed. Moving to a cheap vendor, I spent some of my money on five daggers. They were disposable, as I knew my Liz would make me a good and lasting one, so without further ado I made my way into the dungeon on that floor. I moved fast and avoided most of the mobs up until the area Liz had told me about.

The room I was in was round and brown, with stalagmites and stalactites littering the room alike. I put my head in my hands and wondered how I was ever going to find this ore Liz had spoken of. Just as I decided to look for it anyways, since it wouldn't do for me to go back empty-handed, a roar pierced my ears. Groaning, I prepared myself as I searched for the cause of the noise, and I was shocked by the site of some of the rocky spikes gathering in the center of the room to form a figure. "Well fuck." I grumbled as a golem was formed out of the rock. I activated my ID skill and learned that I was facing a secret boss on the floor. "Well, double fuck. Where the hell did Lisbeth learn of this thing?" It was called Thardus. "Well, that doesn't bring me back to my early gaming days. Wonder if it has the same attacks as my dear old friend?" Thardus proved my point by rolling into a ball and charging at me.

"Triple fuck." I ran and dived to the side, letting Thardus roll on through and ram into a stalagmite. When it did, half of one of its four health bars disappeared. "Well, maybe I'll have to downgrade that triple to a double fuck after all," I said, pondering the irony of the situation. Unfortunately for me, the golem decided to unroll and shoot spikes of rock at me. My eyes widened and I dodged, but only just barely. "Never mind, definitely a triple fuck." Done joking around now, I pulled out one of my backup daggers and flung it at the boss. It didn't have any effect, and I grumbled. "Of course the stupid weapons work on every monster except this one. Of course."

The fight was exhausting. I would have to dodge pretty much everything, and when Thardus got bored of throwing rocks it'd try and get up close with its ball. I'd then have to direct it into one of the remaining stalagmites and drop its health. Finally, the boss only had half a bar left, and I got worried. There weren't any more stalagmites. Granted, Thardus didn't have much of his body left, but it was still an issue. Just then, I realized something. I realized something I had done horribly wrong. I had flung a dagger at solid rock, and it hadn't impacted with the blade. "Well, fuck, I'm glad I bought four other daggers!"

My plan didn't really work, though. Even though I had enough daggers to go around, it was ridiculously hard to get close to the boss without it trying to snipe me with spikes of stone. I sighed when I caught the lip of one of them, dropping my health to seven eighths of what it was. In quick succession, I noticed several things in the surrounding battlefield as a result of my being hit: Number one, some of Thardus's spikes had missed and embedded in the stalactites. Number two, because of my constant dodging, there appeared to be a ladder of sorts against the wall made of spikes. Number three, Thardus seemed incapable of looking up due to most of his body being missing.

Luckily for me, I had decided on a mostly speed-based build at the start of the game. At level 51, my speed stat was high enough that I could dart the long distances between spikes with ease. I proceeded to do so, quickly navigating to right above the boss and plunging down with two daggers, slamming them hilt deep into Thardus's skull. The boss roared as half its remaining health was dropped. It appeared that I would have to be weaponless for just a bit longer, as the daggers were too weak to stand up to being plunged into a boss. The fight was over quickly though, as I repeated my earlier actions to finish off the behemoth.

Finally through fighting, I looked in my inventory to discover a few changes to my stats and skills. My speed stat had raised quite a bit to my pleasure, and I had added a few levels to my one-handed skill. I also received two items from the boss; the ore my beautiful girlfriend had asked for, and some armor. I equipped the armor, Arachnid's Cover, and I was pleasantly surprised by the result. I was covered head to toe in a silky black robe. It had high defense stats despite clearly being light armor, and I attributed that to the rockiness of Thardus. I laughed; even though the armor would have made little sense to another, having just fought the golem, I knew that Kayaba was simply paying homage to a game from both our childhoods. I couldn't help but respect him for that.

The Arachnid's Cover had an ability titled 'Invisibility', and I frowned. Curious, I tapped the button to activate it and was shocked when I completely disappeared from view. More than that, upon running as heavily as I could back and forth across the room, I realized I couldn't hear my own footsteps. I grinned broadly. This was going to be fun. I didn't bother to use a teleportation crystal, instead simply walking past the mobs while hidden from sight, emerging after a time into the light of the rest of the floor.

I deactivated my new armor's ability and made my way back to town, teleporting back down to the 11th floor. I stood outside Lisbeth's shop for a moment and debated whether or not to use my ability. I knew that I could use it for more nefarious reasons than to scare my girlfriend, but I decided to play a bit nicer and scare her with it now. I activated the ability and walked into the shop, letting the door shut behind me. "Hi! Welcome to Lisbeth's Blacksmithing Shop! What can I do to help… you…?" Lisbeth walked around the corner and stopped when she couldn't see anyone. "That's weird. I could have sworn I heard the door."

While Liz wondered whether she was going insane, I snuck behind her and around the corner, becoming visible and walking around to her shoulder. I grabbed her for a hug all of a sudden. "Yo! I'm back, hon! I brought you that fancy ore you asked for!" Lisbeth screamed before she realized it was only me. I laughed hysterically, then regretted it almost immediately when I felt the impact of Lisbeth's foot with my crotch. "DAMMIT! Liz, we need those!" She blushed and apologized.

Noticing I didn't actually feel the pain I expected, I stood shakily and rubbed the back of my head. Seeing a look of confusion and fear on my girlfriend's face, I realized that the armor covered my face as well. That was annoying, and I took off the hood. My smiling face greeted the girl in front of me, and the fear dissipated. "Where the hell did you get that?" she asked.

"Oh this? This is just one of the two items I got from that secret boss I had to kill to get that ore. The other item, quite clearly, is the ore itself."

Liz blushed. "I didn't know you would have to fight a boss… You could have called me for help, you know that right? I would have come for you." I frowned.

"Liz, two things: first, it was nothing I couldn't handle. Second, I was going to do my job without help. It's one of my tenets." There was a short silence in the room before I continued. "Anyway, is there anything else my Dark Mistress requires of her lowly servant before he collapses?" Lisbeth laughed.

"Only a kiss, my li-mph." I interrupted her by fusing our lips. When I finally separated from her I skipped off jokingly, snickering as she rebooted. "My – my – my- what was I doing again?"

When I got upstairs I promptly fell asleep on my girlfriend's couch, dreaming of all the monsters I would kill with my new dagger and all the adoration I'd receive from my new girlfriend. All in all, it had been an exciting few days, and I was looking forward to the future for the first time since entering the death game.


	4. Christmas in Another World

_Chapter 4: Christmas in Another World_

A few months had passed since I had hooked up with Lisbeth, and a lot had happened. First of all, the guild Kirito had joined, the Moonlit Black Cats, had been slaughtered in front of him when they got cocky in a high-level dungeon. Kirito had been despondent since then and won't let anyone talk to him. Truthfully I was worried. I missed my friend.

Unfortunately, I found myself too busy to try to contact him, instead becoming Lisbeth's assistance. She began training me in the Blacksmithing skill and I was glad for it. Now I could help my girl on the days that business was too heavy for her alone. By the time the first month had passed, I was already just under her level in the skill. It must have been the reward system that she put in for when I did something correctly and raised a level. I did like my kisses.

Another change that occurred during the three months was that Asuna joined a guild. Specifically, she joined a guild called the Knights of the Blood, a quickly rising guild that had ambitions to be on the front lines. They had the potential; that was for sure. She had stopped by the shop a few times to say hi, and express her disappointment that I wasn't on the front lines anymore. I wouldn't have any of it, though. I told her that I was simply taking an extended vacation, helping Lisbeth run her store and training my Blacksmithing skill with her.

The last major change was that the middle floors had been cleared quite rapidly, and we had relocated the shop to a higher floor; to be more specific, we were now stationed on the 38th floor in a much roomier home for all our activities. Lisbeth was glowing with happiness at the improvements, and I caught myself smiling more and more in her presence. I think it was about a month into things I realized I had fallen for her.

Christmas was approaching quickly. It was already the 23rd, and I had decided to propose to Lisbeth on Christmas day. I had bought a ring and was giddy. Luckily, Liz only thought I was looking forward to Christmas and didn't suspect anything ulterior. That was good, it was meant to be a surprise. We had planned a Christmas party for that night with all our friends, including Kirito, but we hadn't received a response yet for obvious reasons.

It was late that evening when I got a message from Kirito. Shocked, I opened it up without delay. It had been months since anyone had heard any sort of contact, and I was thrilled for the message. It read that he was going to be a bit late to the party but that he would make every attempt to be there. He just had to do something first. I knew he had been power leveling – everyone did, but he didn't let our disapproval of his recklessness affect him too much.

After closing the message, I practically sprinted to Lisbeth's room, slamming open the door and promptly turning red at the sight before me. My beautiful girlfriend was in her underwear. Quietly, I backed out of the room and around the corner, curling into a ball on the ground so as to minimize damage to my body when she inevitably hit me. I was right, and she came out of the room and stopped in front of my form. "Get up, Sarok. Look me in the eyes and tell me what was so important to barge in without knocking." I simultaneously winced and sighed in relief. She never used my full name unless I was in trouble, but I knew I could get out of trouble since I had a good enough excuse.

Carefully I unrolled and stood up. I cursed that I wasn't wearing my spider armor, so I couldn't exactly run away. When I looked at Liz, I quickly noticed she hadn't bothered to put any over-clothes on. I winced and kept my eyes on hers in a decided show of strength. "Well, see hon, I uh, well that is to say, I—"

"Get on with it and stop your eyes from drifting, Sarok. It's nothing you haven't seen before." I blushed. That was very true, since I had walked in on her before.

"Well see, Kirito kind of contacted me and told me he'd be here at the party." Lisbeth brightened and I heaved another sigh internally. Unfortunately, I may have gotten Liz a bit too excited, as she hugged me. In her underwear. So I had the decidedly male physiological reaction, probing her with my third arm. She blushed and pulled away, noticing the bulge in my casual clothes. My eyes widened and I turned away, subtly adjusting myself.

"That's, uh, that's great Rok! And, uh, we're going to ignore the events that just occurred, right?"

"Y-yeah, Liz, sounds good to me." There was an awkward silence. "I'll just be, uh, going to bed now. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Rok. Love you."

Shit. She had said it. The words I had been waiting to hear since I had admitted I loved her to myself had come out, and I didn't quite know how to react. So I just stood there with wide eyes and a slack jaw looking at my girlfriend. As I stared, she seemed to get more and more depressed, and the sight of a tear running down her cheek snapped me out of my thoughts. "Shit, Liz, don't cry, I was just shocked is all. See, the thing is that I love you too. I just couldn't believe that you felt the same for whatever reason."

Lisbeth brightened up near instantly, flinging her arms around my neck and tackling me into her room. I never left that room. Granted, we couldn't break the Ethics Rule in the game, so nothing too bad happened, but we most certainly slept in the same bed with very little clothing on.

Waking up in the morning, I tried to wipe my face with my left hand and found I couldn't move. Worried, I groggily opened my eyes and was shocked awake when I saw the still-sleeping form of my girlfriend lying atop my arm. Her weight wasn't bad, but I didn't especially want to wake her up. My situation was made worse when I realized two further things: one, I was poking her lower back, and two, I was cupping her left breast with my right hand. I was in deep shit when she woke up. Cautiously and without jostling Liz, I tried to extricate myself from the incriminating situation I found myself in when the door burst open. Fuck.

"There you are, Liz! I've been looking all over… for… you…" Asuna trailed off when she noticed my form curled around Lisbeth's. "Sarok?" Fuck. Fuck. My mind was in overdrive as I tried to come up with a way I could survive the wrath of the two girls. I couldn't come up with one before my thought train derailed. Liz had woken up.

"Wha…" she yawned, "What are you saying, Rok? Something about…" another yawn, "Kirito, was it?" She blinked a few times and noticed three things in quick succession. First, Asuna was staring open-mouthed at her, which was weird in itself. Second, there was a not uncomfortable sensation in the small of her back. Third, there was a decidedly male hand on her waist. Turning slowly, she saw me laying there fearfully and blushed heavily. "Th-this is a dream, right? A nightmare? Somebody say it is, please say it is."

I suppose a stronger man would have made a witty remark in that situation, but I could only manage to whimper unconvincingly. "Please don't kill me." I mumbled, fully expecting not to get up. Lisbeth grew an even deeper shade of red and Asuna's jaw was still on the floor.

"Oh, my silly boy, I would never kill you! Truth be told, I enjoy this position far too much for that to be anything but a curse. I wouldn't mind waking up to this every day from here on out." Now it was my turn to have a loose jaw. It appeared that for damage control Liz had decided to play it up and fuck with Asuna. "Unfortunately, I do have to get up now, spider of mine. Make sure to put on some clothes, don't want Asuna here to come to her senses and try to steal you from me.

Asuna was snapped out of her silence by the sound of her name being called. "B-b-b-b-but y-y-y-you and you and h-h-h-he…. WHAT?!" The last part of Lisbeth's statement caught up with her. Snickering through my embarrassment, I rolled out of the other side of the bed and reequipped myself from the floor, donning my spider cloak and turning invisible so as to sneak by the now angry girl.

When I reached the hall I breathed a sigh of success and headed downstairs, deactivating the invisibility at the bottom. As it was Christmas Eve, the shop was closed for the next two days, and we had decided to decorate today instead of tomorrow so we could spend more time together. Fortunately, all my gift shopping was already done, since I knew what I was going to do for Liz already. I had gotten Klein a book about how to properly flirt I had found; for Agil I had made a new hammer for a backup; for Asuna I had an expensive tailor make her a lighter uniform so she could be even faster, and for Kirito I put together a humorous guide on how to make friends.

I realized with a start that this gathering would be the first time we would all be together in the same place. Excited, I started decorating with my still-slightly-red girlfriend. We had stopped worrying about Asuna for the time being. She would come down and yell at us soon enough.

The eve passed quickly after that, and just when I was about to fall asleep with Liz in my arms, I got a frantic message from Klein. "Fuck!" I exclaimed upon reading it, startling Lisbeth next to me. "I have to go, babe, I'll be back before morning. I swear it."

"What is it, Rok?" she asked, curious and worried at what could possibly have me so riled up.

"It's Kirito. He's trying to solo the Christmas event boss. Klein messaged me and told me to get over there and help him out, so I have to go. Can't have my friend dying on Christmas morning." I equipped my Cover and sprinted to the teleporter without waiting for a response. I knew that Liz would understand.

_I hope I get there in time, _I thought, _I can't let Kirito die. Then I won't be able to bring myself to propose to Liz tonight! _I smiled grimly at the downright selfishness of my thought. I ran faster, pushing the limits placed upon me by the system. I was almost there. When I reached the coordinates Klein had sent me, there was a duel on between Klein and an armored figure. Around the area were various members of Fuurinkazan, Klein's guild, and the Divine Dragon Alliance, one of the front-running front-line guilds out there.

Confused, I ran to confront Klein as soon as he won his duel. At the conclusion of the battle, the DDA withdrew, which made sense. I had deduced that it was a fight to see who would withdraw first to avoid bloodshed. "Klein, where's Kirito?" I asked.

"He insisted and I saw no reason to object. He's my buddy, you know how it is. Besides, he had this look in his eyes. I don't think he'll have any problems." We looked in the direction of Kirito's footsteps together, waiting solemnly for him to come back from his task. I couldn't bring myself to interrupt him. I knew how he felt, having felt the same several times in my life outside of the game.

After a bit, the crunching of feet in snow broke my eyes from the ground. Kirito was back. I noticed with a start that there were tears running down his face. He was holding a glowing item in his right hand, and my eyes widened when he threw it to Klein. "10 seconds." He said simply, dejectedly.

"What?" Klein was puzzled.

"10 seconds. Use it next time someone dies in front of you. Oh, and Sarok? I'll have to cancel my reservation. I – I just can't face it." Shit. This was bad.

"Kirito, wait!" I called, but he was already gone. I turned to Klein with a faraway look in my eyes. "Klein, mind if I take that item off your hands?"

"N-no, you go ahead and take it," Klein remarked distractedly, "I should go and get some rest. Wouldn't want to be late tomorrow because I slept in."

Speaking of going, I had a beautiful girl waiting for me. She could cheer me up in no time. I certainly needed it. I looked at the in-game clock on my way back to town. It read 1:31 am. It was early, Liz had probably already fallen asleep. It didn't matter, I only really needed a hug or four. Holding her would suffice for now.

I got back near 2 in the morning and crawled into bed with a depressed expression, holding my girlfriend for warmth. It was one of those bad times, it seemed. She woke up and felt the shift in my mood. "Rok, what's wrong?" she hugged me, and I thanked God for her company.

"It's Kirito He – he's alive, but he's broken. I don't think he's going to come tomorrow. Today." I corrected myself halfheartedly. I sighed and let go, sobbing silently into Lisbeth's shoulder. "I feel his pain. I really hate empathy. Why does it have to be him? WHY?" I screamed the last part, my cries becoming louder as Lisbeth cradled my head into her chest. Soon I had cried myself out. "Merry Christmas, babe. I love you."

"I love you too, Rok I love you too." I fell asleep relatively contentedly, safe in Lisbeth's embrace.

"WAKEY, WAKEY, IT'S A BRAND NEW DAY! AND IT'S CHRISTMAS, TOO! Come on, Sarok, get up!" Someone shook me awake and I swatted away their hand.

"Whuh time it?" I mumbled.

"It's 7 AM, and IT'S CHRISTMAS! SO GET UP!"

Groaning, I did just that, feeling around the bed for my girlfriend. I sighed, finding nothing. The voice must have been hers, I was just too tired to figure it out. Groggily, I sat up and reached for her, pulling her bodily on top of me. "Let me do one thing before I get up, kay babe?" I kissed her and noticed two things. First, I wasn't kissing my girlfriend. That alone set off warning bells in my head. Second, I was barely wearing clothes. Breaking off with a curse, I woke up and found the identity of my lip-lock partner to be none other than Asuna.

"Fuck, sorry Asuna. You aren't going to kill me, are you? Is Lisbeth around here too so I can get resurrected before she kills me? This whole 24 hours I've nearly been killed three times." I decided to ignore the events of the previous night for the time being. I looked anywhere but the girl in front of me, blushing madly.

"Such a poor mouth on you, Sarok. Not just for speaking either." Ouch. That one hurt. Liz didn't complain, so I took that to mean I was pretty good at the art. Then again, Liz was rough. "I won't kill you. That would ruin your proposal later, wouldn't it? I think I'll just save this story for later if I ever need you to do anything for me." That was worse, and I blanched, transitioning from red to white in five seconds flat.

I sighed, though. I didn't want to ruin Christmas for anyone by being a sore loser about it. Shrugging, I looked Asuna in the eyes and grinned. "Sounds good, then. Now, are you going to watch me get dressed too then? I promise to make a show for you." It was Asuna's turn to blush. She squeaked and ran out of the room. Shaking my head, I put on some warm pants and a traditional sweater before heading downstairs.

The first sight that greeted me was Lisbeth's smiling face, and I almost lost my composure then and there, proposing on the spot. It was going to be difficult to last until the pre-meditated time I had discussed at length with my friends. "Good morning, babe. Merry Christmas!" Liz beamed at me and replied with a kiss.

This was going to be really difficult. I almost jumped the gun four or five times during the day, and I was always watching the clock. Thankfully, Liz thought it was just giddiness and anxiety for the time to come this evening. There were a few close calls barely worth mentioning, and before long the first guests arrived at the door. Hurriedly, I got up and opened the door to admit Klein and Agil, who had come together. I had a short meeting with them to determine the when of what would happen later that night.

The next to arrive was Asuna, who had had an errand to run (for me, of course). She gave me the items she had picked up and winked before heading into the main room to talk with the others. That was about the last of the guests, as we weren't expecting Kirito for sadly obvious reasons.

I walked into the room and gave a slight nod to Liz. She nodded and we ushered everyone into the dining room for dinner. Lisbeth got out the food we had prepared earlier that day with Asuna's help and we proceeded to dig in, relishing the delicious taste of Christmas dinner.

After we ate, the five of us went back to the main hall, getting out the gifts we had for everyone else and taking turns going around the circle. As planned, I was to go last and Lisbeth first. She distributed her gifts to everyone individually, ending with me. I opened the oddly-shaped package to find another dagger, the dagger she had withheld from me for seven months. The dagger she had made with her love and the ore I had obtained for her. It was beautiful, and it had a name.

"Deep Faith," I said aloud with near reverence, "Liz, it's beautiful. Dare I say it's perfect?" I gave it an experimental swing and was in awe at the weight. It was perfect and sliced through air like a knife through butter. I looked at the stats and my eyes widened dramatically. Its crit ratio was maxed, and the damage was near peaked as well. This weapon had taken some serious grinding to produce, and I recognized it. It was all the more reason to make me sure of my decision to ask Liz to marry me.

"I love you too, Rok!" she giggled. It was the next person's turn, and it went all the way around the circle after a bit. Finally, it was my turn, and I handed out a gift to everyone but Liz. She frowned, and I waited until everyone had opened their gifts and thank me before standing again and making my way to her, pulling her up. "You've probably noticed you didn't get a gift. That's because my present to you isn't material." I grinned nervously and got down on one knee.

"Lisbeth, will you marry me?" I looked her straight in the eyes as they widened to the size of saucers. "Look, I even got flowers and a ring!" I pulled said items out of my inventory and she took them from me unfeelingly.

I don't know how long I waited for her to say something. "Liz, please say something, anything. I love you with everything I have, and I want nothing more than to marry you. So please, if you're going to crush me, do it soon. Don't drag it out, please." My eyes were pleading now. Thankfully, it appeared my frantic words had broken my hopeful-fiance out of her shock.

"Rok, I – well I don't know what to say! This is all so sudden, and I –" my face fell. She was going to reject me. I didn't blame her. "Oh, what am I saying, this is no time to mess around. Of course I'll marry you. I couldn't bear to see you in pain. I love you too much for that." My eyes shot up to meet hers. I couldn't believe it, and time stopped for the two of us. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the others had left the room. I stood on shaky legs and took a step towards Liz with unsteady toes.

The first step turned into two, and then ten until I had sped up and grabbed her in a searing kiss. She responded in kind, and we fumbled for the menu where we could officially get married. It was a game, after all, and we could do things in an instant like that. Virtual Reality had its perks. Before long we had hit the button and experienced the endless wonder of a merging inventory. It was as if we could sense each other's thoughts, and we took off up the stairs, forgetting all else. The Ethics code was turned off for us now, after all, and we were excited to explore the implications.


	5. Back To Work

_Chapter 5: Back to Work_

Liz and I went on an extended break from work, but it had been two months and I had to get back to my now second job at some point. Clearing the game was very important, as it meant that we could finally see each other in the real world. Before I left the house to go back to the front lines, however, Liz asked me one last thing. "What's your name, Rok? Your real name, not your avatar." I hesitated only a moment before replying.

"My name is Charles. Charles Galat. I know it's American, but I moved to Japan for college. What about you?"

"My name is Shinozaki Rika, and I'm 16. How- how old are you exactly, Charlie?" I sighed resignedly. I understood that she was worried about my age since she was only sixteen and I was in college, presumably.

"Rika, I'm only eighteen. There's nothing for you to worry about. Besides, would you love me less if I was older?" I raised an eyebrow at her blush. "I'll take that as a no. I'll see you tonight, okay babe? I promise you that." I saw the tension in my wife's body cease and smiled softly. "I love you with everything I am, Liz. Rika. _Nothing,_ and I mean _nothing, _will stop me from seeing you tonight and every night until we age into nothing." A tear leaked down my face unbidden as I tried to make her understand.

Incapable of stopping myself, I ran to her one last time and embraced her. "Charlie, I'm worried. I know you can protect yourself, but-" I silenced her with a kiss. I kissed her and put everything I was feeling into it. I _would _come back, it promised. Sadly, I had to break away, and I walked away with tears drying on my face. _This is terrible, _I told myself, _I've let myself grow soft._ I chuckled and held up my hand in my traditional three-fingered wave, heading off into the virtual sunrise.

It took me most of the morning to reach the place I had agreed upon with Kirito. He had messaged me the previous night telling me to meet him on the 35th floor. He needed to talk to me about something work-related, and I understood. When I walked into the inn specified, I saw my friend had taken control of a corner table. He beckoned me over. "So glad to see you again, Sarok," he greeted me warmly, "Let's go upstairs. I don't want anybody prying into this." I raised an eyebrow but followed Kirito up to his room in the inn. He closed and locked the door behind us.

"Kirito, we haven't even been on a date yet and you're already taking me to your bedroom? How scandalous of you!" I faux-exclaimed, my voice deadpan. Kirito laughed, and I smiled. It had been a long time since I had last heard that sound.

"I see your sense of humor hasn't improved, Sarok. Anyway, I called you here to ask you for help." Kirito looked at me expectantly, but I waved for him to go on. There was no way I was going to turn him down. "See, a little bit ago a guild called the Silver Flags was annihilated by the orange guild Titan's Hand. The leader was the only survivor, and he sat outside the city day and night trying to get somebody to help him. I stopped and he gave me a teleportation crystal so I could send them to prison."

He paused to catch his breath and continued on after a moment. "I need your help because there's a lot of ground to cover. The guild was seen last on this floor in the Forest of Wandering, and that's a tricky place to explore if you know what I'm talking about." He turned to me and this time I actually responded.

"I haven't been around the front lines since April, Kirito. I wouldn't know anything, but I'll take your word for it. Just because I haven't been around doesn't mean I've been slacking on my character leveling." As it was, I was just ten levels below Kirito at level seventy. I was proud of my ability to juggle my free time with my Liz time with my leveling time.

Kirito nodded. "Well it's very, very easy to get lost in the forest. I'd like you to come with me and we can start at one end and work our way towards the center. With our levels it shouldn't be too difficult to navigate solo. Are you in?" I grinned ear to ear.

"Well, technically we're inn, not in, but yeah, of course I'll help! How could I turn down my boyfriend here since he means so very much to me and he's been so sad lately?" The only reason I was comfortable with calling Kirito my boyfriend was that I was married, not that he was aware of that fact.

Kirito blushed and punched me in the arm. "I'm not your boyfriend, and that's great. We should get moving and clear as much as we can before it gets dark." I nodded and we left the inn. It was nearly two in the afternoon, but luckily the town we had chosen to meet in was right next to the Forest geographically.

Making our way inside the Forest, not an hour had passed before a loud scream rang through the air. Kirito and I looked at each other, eyes wide, before nodding in unison and speeding off towards the sound, Kirito on the ground darting between trees and myself up in the trees hopping from branch to branch with little to no effort.

Because of my high speed, I managed to beat Kirito to the clearing where the scream originated. The only sight I could see was the backs of three of the indigenous ape-like mobs surrounding a player. I didn't hesitate, unsheathing my dagger and activating a jump skill. At this point Kirito had arrived and sliced through both of the remaining apes with one swipe of his massive black sword, the Elucidator.

All that remained in the clearing after we had demolished the nearby mobs was a little girl. She was crying silently and her mouth was open in shock and horror. She seemed to be cradling a feather of some sort in her hands, and I realized with a start that she was probably a beast tamer. Her familiar had likely tried to shield her from an ape's blow and paid the price for it. "Hey there," I murmured quietly, gently. "I'm Sarok, and this here is Kirito. Is that your familiar?" She nodded mutely, still in shock from her obviously traumatizing experience.

"Kirito, some help here. You know any way to revive this one?" I could see him thinking about it before he brightened and nodded. "Hey, little one, Kirito says he knows a way to get your familiar back, alright?" As soon as my words processed through her ears, the girl bolted into my arms with many muttered thanks. I just hugged her and rubbed the small of her back soothingly, letting her get it out. "What's your name, then?" I asked when she had calmed down enough.

"M-my name's S-s-silica," she stuttered, "This is, well, this w-was my d-d-dragon P-p-Pina. You can bring her back though, right?" Silica looked up at me hopefully. I smiled at her and nodded.

"We can revive Pina with a special flower on the 47th floor in an area called the Hill of Memories. We would go for you, but the problem is that the beast's owner has to be there in order for the flower to bloom." Silica's face fell, then brightened again.

"Well, I'll just have to train and train until I can get Pina back then!" she exclaimed defiantly.

Kirito shook his head, though. "The catch is, you only have three days to revive Pina." At Silica's crestfallen expression, I glared at Kirito, silently telling him to fix this mess. This girl had grown on me like a little sister in the short time I had known her. Kirito sighed and opened his mouth to speak again, all the while opening up a one-sided trade menu to transfer gear to Silica.

"Here. This should be enough to raise your strength five or six levels. The two of us will accompany you just in case, though." Silica's mood shot back up again, and I was slightly amused at the rollercoaster the girl had just gone on. "Come on, we should go back to town and discuss our strategy." I nodded approvingly and the three of us headed off back to town, arm in arm.

I was frustrated. As we walked through town, we were stopped by at least twenty older male players asking if Silica needed any help. I had developed a twitch in my left eye and was about ready to scream when a decidedly female voice rang out instead of the male one I had been expecting. "Well, well, if it isn't little Silica? Where's that dragon of yours, then? Did it die?" Silica frowned and turned towards the voice, letting out a gasp when she laid eyes on its owner.

"R-Rosalia!" she cried, surprised. I narrowed my eyes. The woman was very clearly trying to be seductive, but she was failing rather miserably.

"And who are these two with you? More men you've seduced, obviously. No wonder your little pet died." My eyes narrowed further. This woman was pissing me off. Sneering, I opened my mouth.

"We were hardly seduced, woman," I didn't bother with her name, "So budge off. There's no need to be scathing." I couldn't help but smirk as she reeled back and came right up next to me, leaning her bosom against my arm.

"Wouldn't you like to see what a _real _woman can do for you?" she tried to get me to rise to the bait, but I simply raised an eyebrow and smiled sinisterly, briefly shaking out of Silica's grasp so I could better use my right hand. Pulling the unknown woman close, I leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"I'm married, hag. Now kindly shut the fuck up before I ruin you and call my beautiful wife." I pulled back and decked her right in the face before turning and offering my arm back to Silica. Dumbfounded at my actions, the girl took my arm and we continued walking until we reached the inn Kirito was staying at. Quickly making our way to his room, I lasted all of three seconds before bursting into maniacal laughter.

The other two looked at me funny and I calmed down just enough to explain myself. "Ah, it's been so long since I was able to smack someone down that bad. That was great." I laughed a bit more, then continued. "Anyway, where were we? Oh right, we're back in Kirito's room. I didn't know you were into three-ways, boyfriend." The other two occupants of the room blushed and Silica burst out laughing at my dirty joke. I grinned, the whole idea was to make the girl laugh.

After we had calmed enough to think rationally again, Kirito pulled out a holo-map of the 47th floor, panning to the Hill of Memories. He outlined the paths to take, and just as he prepared to close the map his ears pricked and he ran to the door. "Someone was here, listening in." he said simply. I narrowed my eyes warily. There was sure to be a trap planned later, and I needed to be prepared. As a result of going through my mental checklist, I missed Kirito's explanation of the situation to Silica.

"We need to be on the lookout, partner," I warned, "There's no way this won't be a trap." Kirito nodded and we cautiously returned to the relative safety of the room. It was time to sleep, and then we could travel across the floors the next day. However, before we did I noticed the time and swore loudly. I needed to go home to my wife. Muttering an excuse to the two and telling them not to get into too much trouble while I was gone, I sprinted for the teleporter and then for my house, getting there just before midnight. Sighing in relief, I let myself in and got ready to go to bed. Liz was already there, sitting on the edge and holding herself.

"Rika, I'm home." I said simply, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, Charlie, I was so worried when you didn't come home right away. What happened?" I told her as we crawled under the covers together, and she laughed when she heard how I had handled Rosalia, kissing me on the cheek.

"Anyway, I've got to meet Kirito early tomorrow morning at the inn. I might not be here when you wake up, but I'll try to remember to be on time tomorrow night, kay babe?"

"Mkay," my wife mumbled, falling asleep in my arms. I grinned; she was perfect for me and I loved her for it. She loved sleep; I loved sleep; it was the perfect exchange. With that thought in my mind, I pulled Liz close to me and let my eyes close.

The next morning, I was too close to Liz to move without waking her up. Fortunately, it wasn't too early, so I gingerly shook her awake. "Babe, it's time for me to go. I'll be back tonight, alright? Promise." I kissed her on the nose and left, putting on my cloak as I walked out the door. I walked through town, avoiding the crowds and I activated the teleporter to head to the 35th floor to meet my friend and our client.

When I arrived, they were waiting for me just outside the entry plate. I nodded to them and shrugged off Kirito's question about my whereabouts, instead gesturing for us to get on with it. I didn't feel as though now was a good time to bring up my current relationship status. Kirito still gazed curiously at me, but held back any objections he might have had with my silence and took the teleporter to the 47th floor first. Silica was next, and I held up the rear.

As soon as my vision returned from the transport, I noticed with no small amount of amusement that the floor was covered in couples. I made a mental note to bring Liz here the next time we were both free and watched as Kirito struggled against Silica, who it seemed had fallen for him in the short time we had known each other. I sighed; Kirito was such a womanizer. Asuna was going to have some major competition.

I slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Well, old buddy, old pal, I think you can handle this one by yourself. I'll be waiting at the entrance to the hill." As if for the first time, Kirito noticed that he was surrounded by couples, and that Silica was a girl. I smirked as a look of pure horror came upon his face before walking away leisurely. After I was a safe distance away, I couldn't help but break into maniacal laughter against a wall nearby.

I recovered from my bout soon enough, and as I waited for the two to finish their impromptu date I received a warning message from an unknown sender. I didn't recognize the name, but the message told me not to go on the trip I was taking, and that I would regret it if I did. I smiled, sending a reply that told the sender quite simply to fuck off and that I would do whatever errands I felt like. There was nothing they could do to make me falter. After all, they couldn't possibly know about my marriage to Liz.

Eventually the two made it to my position and we headed as one to the Hill of Memories dungeon. As planned, Kirito and I did most of the damage to the mobs but let Silica finish them off. Soon enough and with many laughs, we reached the platform where the flower would bloom. When it did, Silica shakily grabbed it and put into her inventory. It wasn't safe to revive Pina in mob-filled territory, even if Silica had grown seven levels since entering the dungeon.

We made our way back to town gradually; however, at the entrance to the dungeon there was a stone bridge with some trees on the other side. My eyes narrowed and I nodded to Kirito. Both of our Searching skills had been levelled enough to detect several players behind the trees, and all but one had orange cursors. It was Titan's Hand, and I nodded imperceptibly. He turned to Silica and gave her a teleport crystal while I opened my mouth to speak. Hey fuckers, we know you're there. Might as well come out before I'm forced to do something drastic to you."

A single player stepped out, and I laughed madly. It was Rosalia, and when I had calmed enough to speak again, she had beaten me to the punch. "What are you laughing at, kid? You don't look too strong, you couldn't be if that girl seduced you. By the way, isn't that infidelity?" I snarled but said nothing in response to the snub at my faithfulness. I wasn't at fault and didn't see the need to reply to scum such as this. Kirito stepped up beside me and spoke.

"Ah, if it isn't Rosalia. Or, should I say, the leader of the orange guild Titan's Hand?" It was Rosalia's turn to chuckle.

"My, oh my, swordsman, how perceptive of you. Yes, I'm the leader of the orange guild. Now, why don't you be a dear and hand over that flower of yours, Silica?" My eyes narrowed to slits and I downright growled at the woman. She was really quite the bully, and I was looking forward to the scuffle that was sure to follow the encounter.

"I don't think we'll be doing that, harlot," I started, relishing the frown I brought to her face, "Besides, we were sent by the leader of a guild called the Silver Flags to snuff you out. Well, really, he wanted you sent to prison. I have every intention of doing so, but that doesn't mean I can't rough you up a bit." Rosalia was still confident, and laughed.

"Oh, you mean the fools with no money? It doesn't matter, you won't be getting anywhere near me. Come on out, boys." A slew of fighters came from behind the trees, and I grinned widely at the sight. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Kirito had activated his Battle Healing skill. This was going to be so much fun. There was no way the group in front of us could damage us, but they had no way of knowing that. I let the battle madness into my eyes and started chuckling under my breath.

"Kirito, Sarok, be careful!" Silica cried, "I don't think you can take this many at once!" She was worried, I understood that, so I turned to her and winked. The Titan's Hand members on the far side of the bridge took a step back and one of them called out uncertainly.

"W-w-wait a minute, Kirito? A swordsman in black. Christ, he's the Black Swordsman! And Sarok the Spider is with him! They're both on the front lines in the Assault Team!" I laughed, enjoying that I had a nickname despite almost never being on the front lines themselves. I was with Rika too much for that.

"What could an Assault Team member be doing all the way down here, though? Come on boys, they don't look too tough. Go get them!" The members were struck out of their uncertainty and charged us while Silica screamed. Laughing maniacally, I finally triggered my invisibility and casually walked up to Rosalia, waiting for Kirito's signal. Meanwhile, he was surrounded as the swordsmen around him attacked him one after the other with their Sword Skills. However, the combination of his level and his Battle Healing skill prevented any damage from being dealt to him.

After the players had exhausted themselves, they noticed they had done no damage at all to him. He spoke. "400 damage in 10 seconds. That's all you can do to me. I'm level 80 with 15,500 HP. My Battle Healing Skill is levelled to the point where it restores 600 points of health every 8 seconds. So you can do nothing to touch me. And look at Sarok; or don't he's gone. Even I don't know where he is." I smirked and restrained my laughter. That was the signal.

Strolling behind Rosalia, I reappeared with my dagger out and pointed at her neck before tapping her on the shoulder. She turned abruptly and screamed. Letting out an insane laugh, I pulled her close to the blade of my dagger, pressing Faith into her neck. "Oh, save it," I started, a feral look in my eyes. "You can't get out of this one. Kirito's got all your men up there handled while I get to deal with little old you. Did you ever realize how pathetic you are?" I slapped away the hand that was reaching to paralyze me and stabbed her in the thigh. She screamed again and I laughed.

"That won't kill you, hag. That was just motivation. You're going to prison, and I get to watch you suffer. I'll relish every minute of it too. There's nothing you can do to stop me. Oh, and about that message you sent me earlier, I'll tell you again now. Fuck off." With that, I threw her bodily into the rest of her guild as Kirito triggered the crystal, sending them to the prison on the first floor.

"Well that's that," I said, wiping my hands and turning to the group, letting the madness fall back into its cage. As long as I let it out every so often it didn't complain, and this had been the perfect opportunity. I didn't regret it, the balance between my insanity and my self was a thin line, but it was contracted between us. I met Kirito's eyes and he nodded before smiling. Unfortunately, I seemed to have scared Silica a little bit, and I let my features soften. "Hey, Sili, there's nothing to be afraid of. I could never be that way with you, little sister." She looked up with a tear in her eye and hugged me fiercely. I smiled and returned the embrace, rubbing her back.

"Kirito, it's been fun. Mind if I meet you later? I've got somewhere to be. I'll see you on the front lines tomorrow morning if that's alright." He nodded and I ran back to town. Even though I knew Lisbeth was in all likelihood alright, I was paranoid about it. Rosalia had known I was married, and it wouldn't have been too hard to weed the information out of someone. More than that, there was one unaccounted for player from Titan's Hand I was worried about. It didn't make sense for all but one member to be involved in the ambush.

I sprinted home as fast as possible, triggering invisibility on the way. When I made it home, I swore loudly as I walked through the door. There had obviously been a struggle recently, and I grew more and more worried as time went on. I searched the house top to bottom, but couldn't find any trace of Liz. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" I screamed the last part. Liz was gone, and I was too late to save her. Just then, with tear streaming down my face, I received a message from an unknown player.

"We have your wife. Come to the 45th floor by midnight if you'd like to see her alive again. Come alone, or else we'll kill her on the spot. Oh, and leave that fancy cloak of yours at home; we wouldn't want you sneaking up on us after all the effort we've put into this." It read.

"DAMMIT! SHIT! FUCK ME!" I screamed into the air, on my knees in the destroyed living room. I barely had my wits about me and messaged Asuna, Kirito, Agil, and Klein to meet me in Lisbeth's shop immediately and that she could be dead if they didn't come.

Soon everyone had arrived and they were all looking at me worriedly. My expression was dead; I couldn't believe the oversight I had made in not protecting my wife. "For… for those of you who don't know – that's you Kirito – Lisbeth is my wife." Kirito's eyes shot open and he dropped his jaw. "She's been kidnapped by the last free member of Titan's Hand, and presumably some other orange players." At this I forwarded the message I had received to my friends, tears leaking down my face in anguish.

"I need your help to get her back. Please help me, please help. I can't lose her." I was sobbing now. I couldn't bear the thought of the torture my Rika could be enduring that very moment.

The group looked at each other once before Asuna stood and hugged me to her chest. "Of course we'll help you, Sarok. You're our friend, and she's our friend as well. We would never leave you behind. However, we need a plan before we run off into an ambush."

I nodded, having calmed enough to a sense of cold efficiency. I was going to get her back no matter what. We formed a workable plan involving both myself and Kirito, and the five of us proceeded to the 45th floor. We only had three more hours before my wife died.


	6. Desperation

_Chapter 6: Desperation_

_We can save her, _I thought over and over, a mantra forming in my mind. _We have to save her. Just stick to the plan, and everything will work out. Everything will be fine as long as we stick to the plan. _I felt the weight of an invisible hand sink into my shoulder and I smiled grimly. At least my friends were there to help. Kirito and I had switched armors, and he had triggered the invisibility on my cloak so as to follow me without arising any suspicion of what was to come.

_I still have my ace up my sleeve, and I'll use it if I have to. I'll expose my Secret Skill if it means saving my wife. _I had obtained a skill called Devil Deal rather randomly the previous day and had tested it once. Needless to say, I was pleased immensely with it.

Before I realized it, I had arrived at the meeting place specified in the message. I had a firm grip on Deep Faith, the dagger Liz had made for me, and I stepped forward into a clearing to see several things. First, Liz was on her knees in the dirt with a sword at her throat. Second, the owner of the sword was a member of the murder guild, otherwise known as the Laughing Coffin. Lastly, there was a semicircle of Laughing Coffin members around the edges of the clearing to prevent me from trying anything.

A man in a cloak stepped forward and revealed himself to me, his face covered in an insane smile. "I see you've come alone, just as I requested. How good of you… We have a request for you, see, if you ever want to see this… this _woman… _again." I grimaced. This sounded bad.

"What do you want?" I said, my voice empty. I had very little hope for the situation.

"Well aren't you straight to the point. I want you to join the Laughing Coffin. You're a strong player tailored well to stealth, and even better, you have that cloak of yours hidden away in your inventory. You'd make a fine murderer, especially if you let go of that madness."

I smiled then. It was a scary smile, one that held my madness. Luckily, I had long since perfected control of my darker side, though they had no way of knowing that. "And what do I get in return for accepting your offer?" I was slightly curious as to what he would respond with. Truthfully I was more worried about what would happen to Liz.

"You get away with your life, and that of your wife's. You get amnesty from any attacks from us, since you'll be part of us. As long as you take up the high-profile targets, we won't bother you. Got that?" I nodded. "Good. Are you ready to make your decision?" I nodded again and beckoned for him to go on idly. On the inside, I was panicking. I couldn't allow myself to go through with this, but I saw no opening for me to unleash my fury.

Unfortunately for the members of Laughing Coffin, my friends chose that moment to strike, each of them picking a target and holding them hostage. I grinned madly and unleashed my skill as the last member tried to take action against my wife. I initiated the skill with pure will, transporting myself instantly to her side and blocking the blade of the would-be murderer with my right arm, which was completely enveloped in a dark fog. When the blade struck my arm it shattered, and I laughed loudly.

The player backed up, and after teleporting Liz to Asuna's home I saw no more reason to hold back. "You tried to kill my wife." I started, storming closer to him slowly, my grin wide, mad, and happy. "You tried to make me kill for you." I stopped at his feet. "For that, you _will_ die." I wielded the darkness around my arm like a blade, stopping it just before his neck. "What's this?" I questioned to the air before unfurling the wings on my back, blocking a sword strike from behind. Hesitating no longer, I slit the throat of the man on the ground and turned to face the one who was foolish enough to attack me.

"Bad move, man. If only you hadn't decided to strike, then maybe you would survive this battle. Now, though…" I trailed off, gliding slightly off the ground as my wings kept me up. They were pure darkness, and not for the first time I was glad that they had the ability to block strikes from any weapon. However, the skill wasn't practical for every-time use, since each time I used it for any extended period of time it lowered my max HP significantly. I was making an in-game deal with the Devil, after all.

Just as I was about to impale the man with my dark blade, a voice stopped me. "Sarok!" I turned slowly, letting the man whimper as his life was saved. I glided over to the source of the voice to see Asuna's terrified face. "Stop. Just stop. You've done enough and Liz is safe. She's safe." It took a while, but her voice eventually broke through the darkness clouding my mind, and I forced myself to let go of the intoxicating power I was using.

After I calmed down, my wings disappeared and I collapsed. Idly, I saw that my HP had lowered by a thousand points, and I sighed. I had been overcome by the darkness inside of me; it seemed that the power of the skill was relative to how insane I was at the given moment. I sighed and took a few deep breaths before opening my eyes to face Asuna. She recoiled when I met her eyes and I raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" I asked, my voice sounding strangely guttural.

"Y-your eyes, Sarok. Th-they're black." Shit. "I-it's more than that, though. They're cloudy. Swirling darkness." Shit. This was bad. I had deactivated the skill, but it appeared that prolonged use also had the side effect of transforming me into a demon little by little. I made a note not to use the power often. The others made their way over to us, having rounded up their targets and tied them together after paralyzing them. They would be out of commission until we took them to prison.

"What the hell was that?" Klein exclaimed. "That skill, what was it? It was terrifying, but it was so… so…" Klein stopped speaking when he saw my eyes and the change in them. I turned away and a tear ran down my face. When I looked down I was shocked to find that it was blood that had dripped from my eyes.

"K-Kirito." I said shakily. "My cloak, please?" He silently handed it over and I donned it. "My skill, Klein, is called Devil Deal. It has its downsides. I'll see you all later. I'm going to my wife." They tried to stop me, but I simply glided away, activating my skill for a brief moment to transport myself 10 meters to the left. Triggering my invisibility I used a teleportation crystal that was previously prepared to go to Asuna's house.

When my vision cleared I deactivated my cloak's ability and closed my eyes. I couldn't bear the disappointment I would face from Liz. "R-Rika, are you alright? I'm sorry for letting you get captured. Will you forgive me? Please, I need you to forgive me. I love you." I was close to tears, but I couldn't let them fall. It would only be blood.

I felt arms wrap around me from behind. "How could I ever not forgive you, Charlie? I love you with everything I am, and nothing can ever change that, not even the situation I was in. You came for me after all, didn't you?" I couldn't help it; the tears fell from my face onto the ground.

"E-even if I'm a monster?" I asked quietly. "Rika, the skill I used to save you, it changed me. I lost control. I killed that man. And now I cry blood." She let go and I started shaking. She had abandoned me, this I knew for sure.

Before I could continue into the pits of self-despair, I felt Rika's lips on my cheek, kissing away the tears. "But why? Why?" I couldn't fathom why she would still care about me even though I had black eyes and my face looked more devil than human. I opened my eyes cautiously and peered into hers. She smiled, and I pulled her close to me. "I'm so glad you're safe. I love you. I love you. I love you." I trailed off and fell asleep on the floor, my body falling limp in her arms.

I woke up slowly and realized I was on a hard floor. I could only vaguely remember what had happened, and when my memory came back I shot up with a start. I heard the clearing of a throat to my left; I turned and saw Lisbeth standing against the wall with a smile on her face. Ashamed, I turned away. "I failed you." I couldn't face her after all that had happened.

Prepared to feel scathing words, I was surprised when I felt the impact of her hand on my face. She had slapped me hard. That woke me up the rest of the way, and I stood, walking to the window. "Thanks. I needed that, I guess. I don't suppose by some miracle you don't hate me?" My voice was hopeful.

"Of course I don't hate you, silly. You're my husband, and I love you with everything I am. Nothing will change that." She hugged me from behind and leaned her head against my shoulder. I smiled against my will. She really was perfect for me. "Now stop moping and kiss me. I want to see if you taste any better." I chuckled and complied happily.

When our lips finally parted, I put an arm around her waist and we looked out the window together. "We have to find a new home, don't we?" I asked. My wife nodded, and I leaned my head against hers lovingly. "We'll find a way." Unfortunately, our moment was broken by the clearing of a throat. I had forgotten we were currently occupying someone else's residence, and apparently Liz had as well. "Shit, Asuna, didn't see you there. What, uh, what are you doing here?" I knew full well this was her home.

Asuna shrugged and came up to hug the two of us. "I'm so glad you're back to normal. You scared us yesterday. Those wings, they…" She shuddered and I became worried, "They made you look even sexier than normal." My jaw dropped open and I blushed despite myself.

"That's fine and all, Asuna, but as long as you're only looking then everything will be fine. He's mine alone, no matter how much you might want to join in!" I took a moment to process the statement, and subtly adjusted myself at the thought. As marvelous as that situation would be, Liz was the only woman I would ever be satisfied with. Asuna stepped back and laughed nervously.

"Uh, Liz, maybe we should take this to, uh, another room. I'd really like to greet you without any further interruptions." At this I gave Asuna a smoldering glare. She had woken my primal side, and I was none too happy about it, but lucky for me I had a willing wife and she was all too ready to participate in letting me run amok.


	7. Careful Planning

_Chapter 7: Careful Planning_

Roughly a month after the debacle with Liz being captured, I found myself in a cave on the 56th floor in the middle of a meeting for the planning of a boss raid. The field boss on this particular floor had been giving us no end of trouble, and tensions were high between all involved parties. Kirito had drifted apart from Asuna since the last adventure while she dove into her position as Vice-Commander of the Knights of the Blood.

I was leaning against the wall in the back of the stuffy room, my eyes closed as I listened to the bickering around me. Asuna held up a hand and the room fell silent. I looked up; she had a look of fierce determination on her face. She had an idea, and she was about to share it. "We should lure it to town and attack it while it's distracted with the NPCs. My eyes narrowed; she was openly condoning the slaughter of virtual people. "They'll only respawn, so it doesn't really matter." So that was her justification. I almost pushed off from the wall but Kirito beat me to it.

"No," he said softly, "You're calling for the deaths of people. I know they're just code, but they're still humans. You say you'll stop at NPCs, but soon the NPCs will turn into weaker players. After all, they're only weak, right? No one will miss them when they die! I'm sorry, I can't condone such a plan. I'll be leaving you to your murder plans now." He was yelling by the end, and while I didn't quite approve of the method he used to deliver his opinion, I couldn't argue with the results. Asuna slammed a hand down on the table and grunted.

I chose this moment to step forward, approaching Asuna and opening my mouth. My voice was cold and my black eyes held no warmth in them. "I can't help you either. I've been down the path you're on before, and it doesn't end well. Killing changes you. It changes your mind and makes you want to do it more and more. It's intoxicating. I'd recommend strongly that you scrap this plan and think of another one." With that, I triggered invisibility and glided out of the room, letting the darkness in my aura reveal itself.

When I reached the outside I sighed and stretched, hearing the satisfying crack of my vertebrae as they realigned. I sent a quick message to Liz telling her Asuna might complain to her and not to worry about it. She needed some sense knocked into her, and my wife could do it better than me. After I finished my note, I walked back to town to go find Kirito. Rather, I messaged Kirito to ask him what floor he was on, since the one we were on currently was miserable and I suspected he would have wanted to stick around somewhere livelier.

However, I received no such response from my brother-in-arms, so I shrugged. I knew that he would be forced somehow to comply with Asuna, and I should be there when he was confronted. I would hopefully be able to prevent any unnecessary bloodshed.

A week later, Kirito had finally replied to me and I had laughed when he invited me to sleep with him on the 59th floor. I don't think he realized the implications of his words. Chuckling, I accepted his invitation and made my way to meet him casually, not bothering to don my cloak.

With a smile on my face and in my eyes, I met Kirito under a tree just outside a town on the floor. He grinned when he saw me and I prodded him with my words, "Inviting me to sleep with you already, buddy? We haven't even had a date yet! And in such a public place too!" Kirito blushed as though he just realized the content of the message he had sent me. I laughed at his expression and waved off his apologies. "It's quite alright; I've got a beautiful wife to satisfy any of _those _needs. No need to trouble yourself trying to gain favors."

Kirito blinked as my words slid right past him. I sighed. The man just couldn't understand innuendo like everyone else. I couldn't complain though, he was still just as sarcastic as my dear old self, and I lay down at the foot of the tree lazily. The sun felt good on my face, after all. I felt the depression of air next to me as Kirito followed me down, and I mumbled contentedly. "We should do this more often."

I barely heard a reply as I fell asleep lightly, wary of other players. If someone tried to mess with me, I would know and wake up immediately. Just when I was about to let my guard down for a moment, a voice brought me out of my musings. "Just what the hell do you two think you're doing?" It was Asuna, and I groaned internally.

"Sleeping. You should try it sometimes. They say it does wonders for your complexion." I snickered. Kirito was just as displeased as I was.

"Why are you down here though? You might as well quit being a front-liner after this; it's unbecoming." Asuna was trying to tell us off. I sighed.

"Aincrad is beautiful this time of year. The sun feels nice on your face and the breeze just barely tickles you. You can feel it, can't you Asuna?" Kirito asked, cracking open an eye and watching as Asuna's thought train derailed. "If all we think about is clearing and forget to live in the process, we'll have lost the game. You forget this is reality for now."

I nodded along with Kirito's words. They rang true in my mind, and I hummed in agreement. "Look at me, for an example, Asuna. I'm married and spend every free moment living with Liz and building a stronger relationship with her. I haven't necessarily stopped caring about getting out of the game; I just use the life I _live _to determine the life I'll create for myself and Liz on the outside. It's just as dangerous in here as it is out there."

Asuna looked thoughtful for a moment before plopping down on my lap, laying against my chest. "I think I'll try this out. Hope you don't mind that I'm using you as a pillow, Rok?" I sighed and shook my head. Kirito was holding back a laugh even though his eyes were wide with surprise. I guess he wasn't aware how close my friendship was with her.

Soon enough, Asuna was dead asleep, and I was unable to move her or get up. I looked hopefully at Kirito, but he had opted not to assist me, presumably in retaliation for the stint I pulled between him and Silica. Groaning softly, I lay my head back down on the ground and hoped no one I knew personally walked by.

I woke to the feeling of a body moving atop mine, and groaned when the soreness kicked in. It wasn't really there, of course, but my mind said it was. Asuna was waking up on top of me, and I paled. I don't think that she meant to fall asleep for so long. It was already sunset, and I looked up to notice Kirito watching us from the stone wall next to the road.

Asuna stretched slowly, putting her hands down and pushing up sleepily. Unfortunately, one of her hands was in an uncomfortable place on my body, and when she fully opened her eyes she realized with a start that she had fallen asleep. Forgetting I was there, she drew her rapier and pointed it menacingly at Kirito, who had taken shelter behind the stone he previously perched upon. She clenched me with her right hand and I groaned in pain, drawing her attention to me. She blushed when she saw my face, then followed her arm to her clenched hand around my groin and let go with a whimper.

"Thanks, Asuna. Liz and I need those. Glad you didn't take them from us." I wheezed. She blushed redder, and Kirito continued laughing at my misfortune. Just then, Asuna spun to face him.

"One meal." She stated.

"…Huh?" Kirito stopped his chuckling abruptly.

"You get one meal. Wherever you want, but then we're even. Got it?" Kirito paled but nodded, his head making several jerky motions in a few seconds. I tried sneaking away while she was distracted, but it was to no avail. "And where are you going, Sarok?" I stopped inching away, my eyes wide and mind blank. "You'll be coming too, of course." It was so matter of fact that I just let my shoulders slump. Swearing to myself, I strode back over to Asuna's side as slowly as possible.

We made our way to a restaurant on the 57th floor in the main town Marten for Asuna's forced meal, and as we were eating Asuna thanked Kirito for watching over her. "It's because of the recent rise in Sleep PKs, isn't it?" I asked, and Asuna nodded. Normally a player couldn't be killed in the AREA, but as of late orange players had found ways to force a sleeping player to accept a duel. Since the player wasn't aware of their surroundings, they couldn't surrender the duel until it was too late and their HP hit zero. It had caused a mass panic and people stopped sleeping in the open. I was one of them, but I wouldn't have fallen asleep alone anyway.

Suddenly, a loud scream rang out across the floor. The three of us stared at each other for a moment before we rushed as one into the square. There we were astonished and horrified to see a player hanging from a nearby tower. He was impaled on a spear, and I swore. I knew there was no way we would reach him in time at our distance. We would still try, however, and Kirito and Asuna rushed to the top of the tower while I scanned the gathered crowd below.

I frowned. There was no one suspicious. I didn't expect there to be, but it didn't hurt to look. Gazing up at the hanging player, I watched as his HP dropped to zero and he disappeared in a flash of polygons. My frown deepened; there was something off about his death but I couldn't put my finger on it. I turned to the crowd. "Silence! Silence, please!" The crowd listened worriedly. "I am Sarok of the Assault Team, and I have decided to take a personal interest in this incident. I assure you that no harm will befall you as long as you make sure not to fall asleep in any open areas. Also, the one who has committed this crime will likely be nearby and have a 'duel winner' icon above their heads. Be on the lookout, and if you see any such suspicious figure, please detain them."

My words thankfully calmed the crowd. Asuna and Kirito joined me at the front, and Asuna stepped forward to clear her throat. "Hello. I am Asuna, Vice-Commander of the Knights of the Blood," she started. I raised my eyebrows when she used her title. The event must have shaken her enough to start a formal investigation. "Would anyone who witnessed the event please come forward now. I can promise we will protect you so long as you follow our directions." I frowned the hardest yet; it was bad practice to ask for such a thing so soon after the event.

Fortunately, a player shakily stepped forward. "I – I think I saw what happened," she stuttered.

"Please, please, come with us then. We should get somewhere a little bit safer," Asuna urged firmly. "We'll go to an inn nearby."

When we had secured a room in the specified inn, we sat down across from the player and she opened her mouth to speak. "Th-that man that died; I was going to meet him for lunch. His name was Kains. We had just been walking in the square, and I went off for five minutes to look for a table. When I came back, he was – he was hanging like that!" Yolko burst into tears.

"Can you remember anything else?" Kirito asked. "I'm Kirito, by the way. Solo player on the front lines."

"I think I saw someone in a hood standing in the tower, but I can't be sure." Kirito nodded and went into his inventory briefly.

"Do you recognize this spear?" he asked, pulling out the purple weapon that Kains had been impaled upon. "It was made by a player named Grimlock." Yolko paled.

"Grim…lock?" she asked rhetorically, he eyes wide. "It can't be him; it just can't. Unless… he wants to take revenge! That's got to be it. Oh God, I could be next!" Yolko was hysterical, and I stepped out on the premise of doing more research on the situation.

Teleporting to the first floor, I walked to the Monument of Life, where each player's name was written. If Kains was truly dead, his name would be written along with time and cause of death. I stepped up to the wall solemnly, navigating my way to the K's. It turned out that he was, and the cause and time of death worked out. Something was still wrong about the situation, though, and I penned a quick message to Asuna asking her if she had discovered anything I could use.

She replied relatively quickly. I opened her message to read the story Yolko had told them. Yolko had added Asuna to her friends list, and I nodded at the end of the message. There was another player in the guild, one whose name was Schmitt. He was currently a member of the Divine Dragon Alliance, and I decided to fetch him from their headquarters on the 53rd floor.

On the way there, I tried to piece together the puzzle in my mind. I knew there was something fishy about the situation; after all, there was no flaw that allowed for Kains' exact cause of death. And he had that weird death animation; suddenly, it all clicked, and I laughed aloud. It was a ploy to draw out the killer of the guild's leader and Grimlock's wife in-game, Griselda.

The way that Kains, or rather Caynz, and Yolko were playing their game was risky, but I decided to let them keep their plans for now. I was curious to see how it would work out in the end. I walked into the DDA HQ with a small smile on my face. At the first sign of a guard, I asked to see a player known as Schmitt. The guard nodded and messaged Schmitt, telling him that he had a visitor at the front.

Schmitt arrived in due time. He was a strong-looking player that wielded a claymore-like weapon. "What is it, sir?" he asked of me. He was polite as well; I liked that.

"Hello. My name is Sarok. I'm a solo player on the front lines. You may know me as the name Sarok the Spider. I'm here on the behalf of a player known as Yolko." Schmitt nodded.

"What does she want?" Schmitt asked curiously. I hesitated and decided that he should come with me and meet Yolko in person, especially if he was the killer.

"I think you'd better come with me. She's been in a spot of trouble and asked to see you." I didn't technically lie. Schmitt paled and immediately requested leave from his guild for a while.

"Take me to her, please," he said. I nodded, once again appreciating the care the man had for his friends. We made our way back to the 57th floor inn where Asuna had stashed Yolko. Upon entering, Smith sat in an armchair across from Yolko, who had her back to an open window. I suspected that she was going to 'die' by falling out that window, teleporting to another floor before she hit the ground, but said nothing.

"Kains is dead, Schmitt," she said silently, "I think it's Grimlock." The man paled and lost his composure.

"B-but it's been over a month! There's no way he would wait until now; why would he do so? Oh God, I'm probably next. What can I do?" he trailed off in a flurry of self-directed questions. After that, the situation deteriorated until Yolko stood and walked backwards to the window, her mouth opened in a terrified look. "Maybe it's – Grrk!" she fell and we rushed to the window only to see her explode into polygons. Kirito looked up to see a player on an opposing rooftop and hopped out of the window.

"Oh, Jesus, I have to get out of here!" Schmitt yelled and left the room, scrambling for his mind. Asuna sighed, and I put a hand on her shoulder. I considered exposing Yolko's plan, but it was still too early. Instead I settled with a comforting hand, and the suggestion to wait for Kirito to return.

"Dammit, he got away," Kirito grunted when he came back through the window. "I almost had him, but he teleported out before I could catch him. I didn't even hear his destination."

"Well, unfortunately there's not much we can do, bud." I said. "Except wait for them to spring their trap on Schmitt. He did admit to following someone's orders and playing accessory to Griselda's murder." My two friends stared at me and I grinned. "What? They were too sloppy; I caught them while I was on my errand. 'Kains' is really Caynz. Look at your friends list, Asuna. Is Yolko grayed out?" Asuna, startled, followed my advice and gasped at her findings.

"You're right, she's not really dead! What does this mean?" she turned to me.

"What's her location right now? I can go and make sure nothing too awful happened and you two can catch up. Is that alright with you?" They nodded and I bid them goodbye for the moment, triggering invisibility and heading to the teleporter. Yolko was on the 19th floor in the 'Hill of the Cross' dungeon field. I made my way there quickly, grinning when I saw Shmitt on the ground in front of Griselda's in-game grave crying silently.

As I watched, two figures clad in cloaks stepped out from behind the tree. That had to be Yolko and Caynz, and my suspicions were confirmed when the lowered their hoods and looked at each other. They nodded once and cleared their throats as one. When they did, Schmitt knelt petrified on the ground and gasped in fear. It was quite the effective way of getting someone to spill their secrets.

Schmitt quickly admitted to his part in Griselda's murder. He pleaded with them, saying that he couldn't possibly have murdered anyone since he was only following some unknown player's orders. It was truly pitiful the depths some people would travel to in the pursuit of money. Just then, a dagger came out of the surrounding fog to slam into Schmitt's side. Yolko and Caynz stared at Schmitt's paralyzed body in shock, and I narrowed my eyes. It was clear to me that there was going to be trouble.

I pulled out Deep Faith and waited for the owner of the dagger to show themselves. Soon they did, revealing themselves to be not one but three members of Laughing Coffin. My eyes widened when I saw the weapon of the one in front. It was the Mate Cleaver, owned by none other than the guild's sadistic founder PoH. The man's name stood for Prince of Hell, and it was appropriate. He walked up to Schmitt and made to slice off his head, killing him. Luckily, Kirito and Asuna chose that moment to appear, preventing me from slitting the bastard's throat.

He was one of the ones who had tried to take Liz from me, and my eyes turned jet black at the thought of revenge. I stalked up to him from behind and prepared to reveal myself, but Kirito stopped me with his words. "Sarok, don't. I don't know where you are, but I know you want revenge. I can tell you with absolute certainty that this isn't the way to do it. Don't do it here like this. Back away from PoH and join us. After all, we have 30 members of the assault team coming for backup. They couldn't possibly win."

My mid was clouded with fury, but I backed off. Deep down, I knew Kirito was right, and while I didn't necessarily care at the moment, I was held back by the fact that Liz would be disappointed in me if I killed PoH like I was about to. With a snarl, I strode to Kirito's side and revealed myself, opening my mouth to speak. "PoH, know this: Kirito saved your life today. The next time we meet, you _will _die. I hope you understand that." My body had a faint aura of darkness to it and PoH nodded, backing up from Schmitt and taking a neutral stance next to his two lackeys. One of them tried to step forward menacingly, but he was stopped by the bastard's arm. PoH nodded once and turned away from us, making his way back into the fog and out of our sights.

Schmitt cried in relief that he wasn't dead while Yolko and Caynz looked on with wide eyes. "B-but… Why?" Yolko asked.

"I suspect Grimlock here will tell us just what is happening," Asuna said as she followed a man out of the fog, her rapier held to his back. He had glasses and an unassuming face, kind even. "I found him nearby. I suspect that he was the one who hired the Coffins." Yolko gasped.

"G-Grimlock? But why? Why would you do such a thing?" Yolko asked, incredulous.

Grimlock laughed insanely. "Yes, yes I had my wife killed. And I almost got all of you too, the last links to her murder. See, she was my wife in the real world too. She was such a perfect spouse; we never got into a single fight while we were married. She was so submissive and beautiful. But then we joined Sword Art Online." At this I frowned heavily, the familiar rage coming to the forefront of my mind. "She became so assertive. My beautiful Yuuko was gone, and in her place was this leader."

"I saw my chance when that damned item appeared. I wanted to – no, I _needed _to kill her, while I still had my memories of my wife! My Yuuko… taken by the monster she became. I had to kill her while she was still my wife; while I still loved her!" I growled low. This man in front of me was a piece of pitiful trash. He didn't deserve my mercy. Kirito stepped forward to him.

"You never loved her. You stopped loving her the moment that you saw she had changed. You killed Griselda for nothing. Nothing, you hear me?" Grimlock looked up, shocked, before bursting into tears. It appeared he had realized his folly, and now our work was done. I stormed to the side and tried to calm down to no avail. Suddenly I felt arms wrap around me in a hug, and I sagged into the arms of the player. Turning, I discovered it was Asuna, and I thanked her softly.

"You can let go, now. I'm alright. I'm alright."

The three of us started to walk away. Asuna turned back towards Griselda's grave and stopped all of a sudden, staring open-mouthed and wide-eyed at some sight in front of her. Curious, I turned and mimicked her expression. In front of us was the figure of Griselda, who smiled and waved before disappearing into the mist. I rubbed my eyes and turned to the other two in my party. "Uhm," I started eloquently, "Would anyone mind telling me what the bloody _fuck _that was supposed to be? Anyone? No? Well shit." I chuckled under my breath at the vast improbability of the situation.

My friends ignored my madness and Asuna spoke as we walked back to town to get our meal. "Kirito, I know you're a solo player and all, but do you mind if I add you to my friends list?" Kirito looked shocked at her request and I smiled, looking forward to his reaction.

"I-I don't know, I'll have to think about it…"

"Oh, pish, posh," I chimed in, adding my two cents, "You know you want it. Just accept the damn request, best friend. You'll not regret it." They both blushed at my words and I laughed. It was a job well done, I had to admit.


	8. A New Weapon, A New Day

_Chapter 8: A New Weapon, A New Day_

It had been two months since we had discovered Grimlock's plot, and things had slowed into a steady routine of clearing floors and returning home to be with our respective partners. Well, this was true except in the case of Kirito and Asuna, who still insisted on being stubborn and staying apart. Liz and I knew they would eventually get together, and whenever Asuna came over to get her rapier Lambent Light sharpened, we would tease her mercilessly about the black swordsman.

We had established a fine business on the 48th floor in the main town Lindarth. This time, the store was relatively close to town, so that there couldn't be a repeat of the near-tragic events from the previous season. It was a beautiful house, and I was glad I could share it with my beautiful wife. Asuna had just come in to have her sword sharpened again, and we asked her why she wasn't on the front lines. It was a weekday, and we were surprised to see her in the middle of the day.

Asuna told us that she had taken the day off to meet someone absently, then blushed as we grinned as one. Liz noticed that she was wearing some special earrings and waved her out of the store, wishing her well on her date. Indignant, Asuna called out that it wasn't like that, but we just laughed knowingly and closed the door to the shop, locking it and closing the shop. I took Liz into my arms and hummed contentedly.

"I'm so glad I found someone like you," she sighed against my chest. "I really need you. Promise never to leave me?" I smiled.

"You know I do. And I need you too. You accept me even though I'm part-demon, and for that alone I will love you to the end of your days. There's more to it than that, of course, but that's just one reason I love you, my beautiful Lisbeth, my beautiful Rika." I looked down into her eyes as she smiled brilliantly and met me in a kiss. It deepened, and even though we meant for the shop to open back up, it didn't that night.

The next day, I watched as Kirito walked into the store and up to the front desk. "Yo, Kirito! What's up?" I didn't really know how he managed to find his way into our particular vendor, but I wouldn't complain.

He looked startled, as if he didn't expect me to be there. "Oh, hey, Sarok! What are you doing here? I thought this was a blacksmith's shop, and you don't know any blacksmiths, do you?" I laughed heartily, drawing the attention of my wife, who was still smiling radiantly from our night before.

"What is it, Rok? A customer? You can handle it, I've got to finish these swords for Klein's guild." Kirito's eyes widened. Apparently he had forgotten I was married to a master smith.

"So what do you need, friend?" I asked, joy in my eyes. "A new sword, I presume? I can't imagine you'd come here for any other reason." He nodded.

"Yeah, I need something of the same quality or better than the Elucidator. Do you have anything for me?" I frowned thoughtfully; I couldn't remember.

"Yo, Liz, we got anything the strength of the Elucidator?" I called to the back, waiting patiently for a response.

"Oh, is that Kirito? Hi, Kirito! Anyways, yeah, there should be that crystal long sword that I made a while back if he wants to try that. It's my best work." I nodded and fetched the sword from its display, handing it to my friend.

"It's… light." He said simply. I nodded.

"She made it with a new ultralight metal. Why, need something heavier?" Kirito was no longer listening.

"It's too light. If you even hit it at the wrong angle, it will probably shatter. It's too weak for much battle," he stated, bracing the sword against the worktable and making to swing the Elucidator at the weapon. The crystal sword shattered into polygons on impact and I sighed in exasperation. Unfortunately for the two of us fools, Liz had chosen to come around the corner just in time to see him shatter her masterpiece.

My wife twitched and I cringed, waiting for the inevitable outburst. It came, and I tried to slink away, failing as usual. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT, KIRITO?! YOU'RE GOING TO GO OUT AND REPLACE THAT RIGHT NOW!" I sighed; her wrath wasn't directed at me. She turned to me and made to speak again, drawing a deep breath. Flinching, I fell backwards when she next spoke. "Oh, and go with him, Rok. I can't have him getting into too much trouble, and you're a master smith too. You can go to those mountains on the 55th floor and pick up some of that crystal from the wyvern I've been looking at."

I sighed and climbed to my feet, nodding in acceptance of my task. When it came down to field work, I was usually the one who got sent to fetch supplies. I didn't mind; my level was sufficiently high to ward off any unwanted attention; and even if I did attract some unfavorable sort, I still had the Cloak to rely on. "Alright, then, my friend, we should get going." I pulled an unrelenting Kirito behind me as we exited the shop. He obviously couldn't feel a thing, in shock from the heat of Liz's temper.

"You deserved it, man, but you have _got _to snap out of this. We won't get back in time for me to get laid if you keep standing around like this." My lewd reference did the trick and pulled Kirito out of his funk. He blushed when my words processed and I turned to walk away. He stood for a moment before following me, his face still tinted red.

"W-What do you mean by that, Sarok?" he asked. God, was my best friend ignorant. I decided to have some fun with him though, and as we made our way through town I explained the ins and outs of what it meant to have a lover. His eyes got wider and wider with every description until I was sure they would fall out of his head. We reached the teleporter before I knew it and I stopped speaking abruptly, laughing hysterically at the look on Kirito's face.

"Someday, you'll get to feel all that, too, Kirito! Aren't you excited? I happen to know a girl who's quite interested in that sort of activity with you, but I won't be telling you who. It's not for me to reveal her identity." I paused for a moment while we teleported to the 55th floor, and continued as we made our way to the area where the wyvern would appear. "Are you saying that you don't want to witness the beauty that is your future lover's body in all its glory?"

Kirito punched me in the arm, his face beet red and his left eye twitching. He had reached his limit, and I laughed even more raucously, drawing odd looks from other travelers. I stopped for his benefit, though, and instead made small talk with him for the rest of the journey.

It took another hour of trudging through snow, but we made it to the boss area. I gave Kirito my traditional three-fingered salute before disappearing from sight and circling behind the boss. As Kirito assume his position in front of it, I pulled out Deep Faith and climbed onto the wyvern's back undetected. Between the two of us, we could overpower more than one of the beasts, but we wanted to have style about it since there was only one this time.

The dragon released a breath laser at Kirito, but he simply sliced through it with his Elucidator. I grinned and cackled madly with adrenaline, taking that moment to plunge Faith into one of the wyvern's eyes forcefully. The creature roared in pain and Kirito took the opportunity to plunge his sword into the boss's midsection, rending a massive gash in it and decimating an entire health bar. That left the monstrosity with only half of one left, and I finished it off by flipping over its head and turning visible, catching its agro with a wild look in my black eyes and blinding it with Faith.

I let myself fall as the dragon exploded, activating the lesser part of Devil Deal to phase into existence next to Kirito, still laughing slightly from the madness. He looked at me strangely but said nothing as I took the crystal ingot from the ground, messaging Lisbeth that we were on our way back and that I had plenty of the ingots for her to use.

As we made our way back, Kirito questioned me about how I had lost my composure in battle. I sighed. "My friend, I didn't lose my composure. I simply let my insanity out on a looser leash. There was no danger of me cracking, I simply needed to unwind and since Lisbeth isn't here to help me, I chose the next best thing and let myself go a bit. I was still in control of most of my faculties; I just enjoy killing when I'm in that mode. A side effect of the skill, I'm sure."

I drew a skeptical look from my friend but he shrugged. We walked back to the teleporter with no further incident, intent on heading back to Lisbeth's shop. Just when I was about to call out my destination and follow Kirito, however, a scream pierced the frigid air. My eyes narrowed and I sprinted in the direction of the noise.

When I reached the origin, all that remained was an empty clearing. Wary of an ambush, I stepped into it, cloaking myself and walking to the center. When I stepped in the center, the floor disappeared beneath me and I plummeted seemingly to my death. Reacting fast, I phased out of the pit and into a corridor at the bottom, finding a badly wounded player. Pulling out a healing crystal, I healed them while still concealing myself.

The player, confused as to why their health was climbing so steadily, emitted a sound of nervousness. Activating my Searching skill briefly to determine whether there were any more players nearby, I deactivated cloaking and took a seat across from the player. "What's your name, friend?" I asked.

"My name's Argo. I'd ask who you were, but I can tell by your eyes and attire that you must be Sarok. The Spider, they call you. They call me The Rat. I suppose it's to each their own."

I grinned. "You talk almost as much as I do, Argo. I like you already. So if I may ask, what are you doing at the bottom of this pit?" I raised an eyebrow when she blushed.

"Er, well that's a bit complicated. See, I had heard there was a dungeon in this area. I was looking for it so I could document its presence when I fell. Thanks for the health, by the way. I was sure I was going to die down here. How'd you manage to get down unscathed?" She was understandably curious, but I knew that if I told her flat out then she would just sell the information.

"First off, it's no problem. Second, if you want that information you'll have to keep silent about it until I give you a sign or I go public with the information, that amenable to you?" she nodded reluctantly, apparently too eager to know my secrets.

I grinned and took off the hood of my cloak, shaking the snow out of my ears and activating the full scope of Devil Deal. I felt the darkness coalesce around me and relished the feeling as it warmed me and formed into a blade on my right hand. I spoke, my voice coming out guttural and demon-like. "This is my secret. I obtained a unique skill known as Devil Deal. In small uses, it lets me phase short distances and eliminate any outstanding velocities."

I laughed evilly at the look of fear on Argo's face and deactivated my skill, slightly missing the warmth of my sweet darkness. "Don't worry," I started, voice back to normal, "I'm still mostly in control of myself while in that form. Surely you realize, though, why I would like that kept a secret." She nodded jerkily and I suppressed a laugh, instead pulling her up. She was short, barely reaching my chin. I handed her my spare teleport crystal, telling her to meet me on the 48th floor in Lisbeth's Blacksmith Shop.

When Argo left, I penned a quick note to Liz telling her what had happened and to welcome our visitor with open arms. I had one more thing to check out, and headed further into the corridor of the dungeon until it opened into a large stone arena. I sighed as a gate slid out of the ground behind me, locking the way as a rumbling filled the air. I was going to have to fight another boss by myself.

The rumbling stopped all of a sudden, and I squinted into the gloom. Torches started lighting the walls to provide illumination, and my eyes widened when I saw the boss. It was fucking Dark Samus from the Metroid series. I swore; this was going to be difficult. Dark Samus was the most infuriating boss I ever tried to defeat in those games, and I died many times. Unfortunately, there were no save points or respawns in this world, only swords.

"Well fuck." I said as the boss levelled its beam at me, firing a burst of blue at me. I knew it probably had the same properties as the Phazon in the games of my childhood, and as such had no desire to get hit. Unfortunately, I saw no way to get close to the Darkling, finding myself constantly dodging. It was a certainty; I was going to have to resort to the use of my Special Skill.

Sighing, I activated it and yelled in excitement as the darkness enveloped me completely. Dark Samus recoiled at my transformation and tried to dart away, but I phased in front of it and impaled it on my arm, staring into its blue visor and laughing as I watched its health drop away. This was fun already, and as the boss finally managed to escape my hold I lost all though of what was going on, instead focusing on the events before me.

It became a game of furious cat and mouse as the boss tried to escape my blades of darkness. It blocked my attacks admirably, but in the end I finished off the Samus shade with an X-shaped slice through its abdomen, quartering it and ending the fight. Laughing madly, I deactivated my skill and walked over to the floating item reward. Picking it up, I was surprised when instead of putting itself into my inventory it bathed me in a golden light.

I suppose on some level I expected the event. When my vision returned, I was back on top of the dungeon looking down into the pit. I examined my armor only to laugh uncontrollably at the sight of the Power Suit that Dark Samus was wearing covering me head to toe. There was nothing particularly special about the item except that it allowed me to jump higher and run faster, probably due to the hydraulics in the suit. It had the same defense stats as my other cloak, and it retained the invisibility function, but I daresay it looked hella more intimidating.

I walked into Lisbeth's shop while twirling Deep Faith between my fingers and throwing from hand to hand, marveling at the control I had over my dagger. I walked straight into the back of the shop and startled my wife, who was caring for Argo with Kirito. She looked scared for a moment before pointing her hammer at me threateningly; I realized with a stat my data was hidden while I was wearing the visor.

I took off the visor and revealed my face to Liz, who shakily put her hammer down. "What have you gone and done now, Rok? You look terrible." At her words my eyes widened as it finally processed how long I had Devil Deal activated for. I summoned a mirror from my inventory, looking at myself. I swore loudly; my face had clearly visible but oddly symmetrical black veins running down it.

"Uh. I may have run into a boss I couldn't defeat without my skill," I said. Lisbeth glared at me and punched me hard in the arm before pulling me into her embrace and sobbing into my armored chest.

"You have to stop worrying me. And you have to stop using that damned skill! I don't want to lose you to the darkness inside of you. I can't. I just can't." She trailed off and I pulled her tighter to me, cooing softly.

"I promise you I would not have used Devil Deal if it were not an emergency. I will forego using it in the future, though, for you. Anything for you, my dearest love. I'm here for you and only you, don't you go forgetting that now." I was horrible at comfort, so I gave uo and just held her.

When she had calmed down, I let her push off from me and kissed her hard. I knew she wouldn't mind, and she responded with a fervor not unlike that of a lion eating a downed gazelle in the African wilderness. After a tine we separated and I noticed Argo's red face. Kirito and Asuna were there as well; Kirito was there holding a crystal sword and Asuna had her hand on his shoulder. Both were blushing and I rubbed the back of my head with a sheepish smile.

"Uh, hey guys. Oh, and Kirito? That's another thing you can look forward to." I winked at him and he let out a squeak of embarrassment. Asuna looked between us curiously but shrugged and ran to my side, punching me hard before wrapping me in a hug.

"You're a fool." She said.

I sighed and returned her hug silently. After we separated, I unequipped my armor and allowed myself to stand in casual clothing. I sat down in an armchair with a weary look, putting my head in my hands. "It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it?" I didn't expect an answer, and my friends understood the rhetoric.

I looked up after a time and met eyes with Argo, who was still tense on our sofa. "Are you alright? Sorry about the drama; it comes with being part-demon." I let out a cynical chuckle at the look of shock on her face at my words.

"Part-Demon? So that's… No matter. It's quite alright, I don't mind. Truthfully, you've taken me on quite the informative experience. I'll be sure to keep my end of our agreement though. Would you like anything else from me before I go?" Argo seemed to have recovered well enough. I smiled.

"Just the pleasure of your friendship," I said, shooting her a friend request. "If only so you aren't so hard to find the next time you get trapped. I suppose your company isn't half bad either." My tone was dry and sarcastic. Argo laughed nervously and accepted the request, then became shocked as the others in the room sent her requests as well.

After exchanging information with us, Argo left reluctantly, leaving me in the room with my wife and friends. I sunk into the armchair with a weary groan. "Fuck," I muttered, "I just can't stop messing this up, can I? I just can't stop making mistakes with this stupid power. What's next? Horns? Emotionlessness? Black leathery skin?!" I spat out the last part. The others looked on impassively as I vented my emotions until I trailed off, putting my head in my hands and muttering deprecatingly. "I'm a failure."

Suddenly, I felt two hands grasp my shoulders and push me into a proper sitting position again. I averted my eyes to keep myself from facing the shame and lamented my infinite weakness once more. I relied too much on others for emotional support. Unfortunately, my plan failed as I felt a hand remove itself from my left shoulder and lightly turn my chin to its owner. Stubborn, I closed my eyes and winced as a single tear made its way down my face. I knew that Liz was in front of me.

I didn't know what I was expecting to happen, but whatever it was, it wasn't what occurred. Liz leaned down and kissed the bloody tear away from my cheek as Asuna kissed the other side, having come over while I tried to distract myself. After that, the two soundly smacked me in unison from either side. Shocked, I sat ramrod straight as my wide eyes flicked between the two of them understandingly. Liz opened her mouth first.

"Sarok – Charlie. You are absolutely not a failure. You did what you had to and it all turned out well in the end. I've told you once and I'll tell you again – I will always love you no matter what you look like or what you've done. That doesn't mean that I won't get angry with you for doing something stupid like you just did with those words of yours. It means that I'll stand by you no matter the circumstance. You're my husband, and I'm your wife, and I don't care that as far as real life goes then we haven't really been married. We'll deal with that when the time comes."

Asuna chimed in, adding to my shame. "And I'm your friend as well. A very dear friend, as you well know. I knew Liz before the game and you better get yourself together to treat her with the respect she deserves, because if you don't I'll kill you myself. Remember you have friends and don't doubt yourself. Besides, I've said it before, you look much sexier with those demon-like qualities of yours. It'd be a shame to leave those behind in favor of someone else." I chuckled quietly and pondered the meaning of their words.

Kirito finally decided to make his voice heard. "Sarok, you know I don't care what you look like. We're both guys, and bros take care of bros, as you're wont to say sometimes. I'll stand by you any time you need me. Trust me, trust us on that." I looked down for a moment before steeling myself and meeting the eyes of my closest confidants. My eyes now held a look of impenetrable defiance and ambition as they used to.

"I'm sorry, guys. Liz. I guess that all this time in the game got me caught up in myself and I forgot a lot of important things. Asuna, Kirito: Thank you for supporting me. You guys are great and I haven't really paid you your due. I just keep taking. Well, I just want to say that changes now." I paused thoughtfully. "And Liz, my beautiful wife – Sorry for doubting. Both myself and our relationship. I promise to start wearing pants from now on, though that might influence our nightly activities. Perhaps I'll just wear virtual pants, then." I let a self-satisfied smirk grace my face as the others laughed and groaned. Liz blushed prettily but nodded happily at my strength.

Now that I felt rejuvenated, I spent an hour talking to my friends and just having a good time. It felt good knowing and finally understanding that they didn't mind my darkness, that they embraced it and made it feel loved. Made me feel loved. I smiled inside; everything about me had changed. I was no longer a slave to the greed inside me; now I leashed it and grew more powerful because of it.

I was broken out of my stupor by a particularly funny joke about Klein made by Kirito. Laughing raucously, I grinned wider on the inside. Things finally felt right inside of me. After I settled down, Kirito turned to me with a curious look on his face. "Sarok, who's Charlie?" I paled, meeting Liz's eyes. She nodded imperceptibly and I blinked my acceptance. It was only right that I tell him my name.

"Charlie, or rather Charles, is my given name. Liz and I shared our true names with each other earlier this year after we got married. It helps us feel closer knowing the real identity of the person you sleep next to and put your trust in. "Mine's Charles Galat. I grew up in the US and moved to Japan for college. I've always been what some might call a compulsive gamer, but SAO was one of my first MMOs."

Kirito made an 'O' of comprehension with his mouth and nodded, gazing at me with profound respect. Asuna had his expression mirrored and I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed. "Um, well, anyways, you guys should probably get going before it gets too dark outside. You need your sleep too, and it might be a bit loud in here for a while. I winked with a rather lecherous grin on my face, enjoying greatly look of shock on their faces at my crassness. Liz smacked me lightly.

"What makes you think you'll be getting any of this tonight?" she asked, gesturing to her body with a flourish. I smiled and tweaked one of her nipples through her armor, whispering in her ear exactly why she knew that she couldn't resist me. Lisbeth blushed and nodded enthusiastically as our two guests edged their way out of our home and into the night cautiously. Not that we noticed, of course.


	9. Whirlwind

_Chapter 9: Whirlwind_

I couldn't believe it. It had been almost two years since we had been stuck in this death game, and I couldn't believe how fast the time had flown. After we met, saved, and befriended Argo, the three of us that fought on the front lines had cleared up to the 74th floor. Asuna and Kirito had become much better friends, and Liz and I had noticed some shyness between them with delight. It seemed that they would finally be getting together.

As it was, I was in Agil's shop on the 50th floor haggling half-heartedly for some supplies for Lisbeth and I to use for our business when Kirito walked in, whistling a jaunty tune with a skip in his step. "What's up with you, Kirito? Finally get up the nerve to ask out Asuna?" Kirito stopped and tripped when my words registered, collapsing to the ground in a heap. Grumbling, he got up and brushed himself off, glaring at me lightly.

"No, Rok, as a matter of fact, I didn't. I actually came to see Agil about something." He said, matter of fact.

I raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, bud, but I don't think Agil wants to date you either. I think he's a bit too old for you, kiddo. Sorry to burst your bubble." Kirito tripped again and Agil and burst out laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, make fun of me all you want," my friend grumbled from the floor, "But if you keep it up you won't be able to have any of it." Curious, I held out a hand to help my bro get up. Once he was standing, he made to look through his inventory and showed me the item he was speaking of. My eyes widened in pleased shock.

"You got one?! How in the hell did you manage that? Never mind, I don't want to know. Wait, so if you're here does that mean you're selling it? To this guy in this dump?" I grinned sardonically at Agil's protests.

"Sell what?" the aforementioned asked in his traditional deep voice.

"Oh, just a Ragout Rabbit I picked up on the 74th floor," Kirito boasted nonchalantly. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to take it off my hands. That is, for the right price." Agil's eyes burst out of their sockets in animated shock as he vaulted the counter and landed on his knees in front of Kirito.

"I swear I'll pay anything if it gets me a taste of that rabbit. It's an S-class ingredient that only Master-level chefs can cook."

I raised my other eyebrow and turned to Kirito. "Although this is all fine with me, don't we know a high-level chef already? Look, she's walking through the door now." I was right; Asuna had just entered the shop through the doorway and noticed the three of us males standing awkwardly off to the side. She smiled at Kirito slightly longer than anyone else.

"What's that about me?" she asked innocently. I noticed at this point a dour-looking man behind her and frowned. Asuna hardly needed a bodyguard for functions such as this. This man looked unhappy, though, and his stance suggested ulterior motives. He had successfully awakened my paranoia without intending it.

Ignoring the squabbles between Kirito, Asuna, and Agil, I donned my helmet and stalked over to the man. "What's your name, player?" I asked none too kindly. "What are your motives for hanging around Asuna? I know she doesn't need a bodyguard. She's too strong for that." The man stared at me haughtily, giving me a once-over and snorting in disgust.

"You don't look too tough, kid, but I'll have you know it's guild policy to guard the higher-ups now. I was granted the honor of guarding Asuna. My name is Kuradeel, by the way, just in case you ever have to ask me for help." I frowned inside the helmet. This low-level fool didn't know who or what I was. He didn't even seem to flinch at my Power Suit. It made me think that he must believe it was just for show. He clearly wasn't aware of older games.

"Somehow I doubt that you're just here for 'guarding,' asshole," I spat sarcastically, "And I'll have _you _know that if it came down to it you would be asking _me _for help, not the other way around. Anyway, I hardly need to justify myself to the likes of you." I turned away, ignoring the spluttering anger and walking to Asuna. "So where we going, babe? Your place or mine? I, for one, would seriously like some of that rabbit of Kirito's." The two ceased their bickering and stared at me, dumbfounded.

Asuna came to her senses first. "We'll go to mine, since I doubt that either of you has your Cooking skill levelled at all. You probably don't have the equipment necessary. As for myself, I maxed my skill yesterday." It was my turn to be flabbergasted as I stared at Asuna, who was preening at my attention. "We should go, there's only so much light in a day. See you later, Agil!" With this, we prepared to leave the shop.

"W-wait, Asuna! Kirito! W-what about me? I want a taste too!" Agil cried, but we were already out the door. I poked my helmet-clad head through briefly.

"Sorry, Agil, but no-can-do. I'll forward you an appraisal report once I'm done, okay?" I laughed at his crestfallen expression and hurried to catch up with my friends, ignoring Kuradeel and throwing an arm over each of their shoulders. "So, Asuna, this isn't exactly how I'd imagined I'd go to your house the first time; I figured it'd be a dinner party at the very least. I suppose this is fine though. Say, what floor did you say you lived on again?"

"I live on the 61st floor, in the town of Selmburg." I whistled; Selmburg was essentially luxury housing. "We should get there in time to cook it up."

Kuradeel finally took his time to speak up. "B-but, Asuna, I just cannot allow you to take such unscrupulous players to your home! Who knows what they could do to you where no one may see! Let me take care of them and then we can be on our way." I narrowed my eyes but decided to let Asuna handle this one. He clearly wouldn't listen to the truth of what was in front of him.

"Kuradeel, these two are at least 10 levels higher than you. They can protect me. Besides, I trust them with my life. That's something I'll never trust you with. Now, please leave us." Kuradeel bristled and made to object. "Shut your mouth and return to HQ pending further orders. As you CO, I'm ordering you to drop the subject." Turning red, the fool opened his mouth once before shutting it, angrily stalking away from us.

"Sorry, guys," Asuna sighed. "That guy's a real creep. I had to get him away before I could truly let myself have fun." With this she hugged me fiercely before turning to Kirito and hugging him as well. I laughed when I saw Kirito's face; he was bright red at Asuna's proximity.

Soon we had arrived at Asuna's home and she had cooked up the Rabbit in a stew. At my first bite I nearly convulsed in pleasure. It was absolutely scrumptious. I told Asuna so and she blushed shyly. It almost seemed as though the darkness in me felt content with the warm taste of the stew. It was that good.

After our meal, we reminisced for a little while about our times partying together early in the year. "We should do it again. Kirito, Sarok, let's go hunting tomorrow and scout out the 74th floor dungeon. We're strong enough to do it." Asuna looked at us hopefully. I smiled and shrugged, accepting her request to form a party. Seeing Kirito's hesitation, I sighed and smacked him upside the head.

"Accept the request, moron. It's about time we got together again." I winked at his befuddled look and he blushed heavily, hurriedly accepting the request. I laughed hysterically at his reaction; he had fallen harder than I had thought. Asuna stared at the two of us with some worry.

"What did you do to make him accept, Rok? I would have thought it would take me threatening him to listen to reason." I stayed silent and winked in her direction. Asuna understood the meaning and blushed as red as Kirito, not that he knew why. The most infuriating part about my best friend was his innate cluelessness when it came to women.

I stuck around for another hour or so talking to the two of them before taking my leave to go sleep with my wife. As I was exiting the building I felt a chill go down my spine and I activated my Searching skill with narrowed eyes. Spotting a figure hiding across the street, I donned my armor and triggered the cloaking on it, creeping up on the player.

I turned a corner and discovered the identity of the unknown player to be none other than Kuradeel. Eyes narrowed to slits, I sprinted up to him and slammed him into the wall by his throat, de-cloaking a moment. "What the _fuck _are you doing here, scum?!" I whispered menacingly. Kuradeel had a look of such stark fear on his face that I chuckled, removing my helmet for the first time in his presence and letting the madness creep into my eyes. "I'd recommend you answer me. It's bad form to not answer your superior." I laughed insanely under my breath at his fear.

"I-I-I was watching Asuna. It's part of my job as her bodyguard." I started to choke him. I knew that he wouldn't be able to be killed while in the safe zone, which is why I felt comfortable being so rough with him.

"Wrong answer, ass." I brought my armor-covered knee into his crotch with a crunch, enjoying the fear on his face. He couldn't feel pain, but the impact was still there. "I'll ask you again. Why. Are. You. Here?!" I spat the last part into his face, the black veins on my face bulging under the rage I was feeling.

Unfortunately, I went a little hard on the fool, and he passed out in front of me. I sighed. It was probably for the best he thought this had been a dream. I left him on the street in the hopes some PK would come by and sleep PK him, stalking away to the teleporter after putting my helmet back on. I had lost my temper and was none too happy about it. Luckily, I had a beautiful spouse waiting for me at home to help relieve some of my stress.

The next day came quickly. Groaning, I got out of bed, too tired to realize I had woken Liz. "Morning, love," I muttered groggily, "Sorry for waking you up so early but I have to go hunting with Asuna and Kirito to chaperone their actions." Liz mumbled that it was fine before sitting up and letting the covers fall off of her. I stared at her for a moment, admiring her body, before turning away in thought. _I could be a minute later than planned without any serious consequences._

Feeling satisfied, I made my way to the rendezvous point on the 74th floor to wait for my friends. I was pleasantly surprised to find Kirito there already, and nodded to him with a shit-eating grin on my face. He looked at me curiously. I had my helmet off since it was so early in the morning. "What's up with you?" he asked me.

"Oh, you know, the usual," I started, "I woke up, said good morning, got laid," I smiled wider, "you know, the usual." Kirito blushed at my openness and turned back to the teleporter stiffly to wait for Asuna. Suddenly the teleporter flared and deposited a flailing Asuna onto the ground. I noticed after a minute that she had landed not just on the ground, but with her crotch in Kirito's face. At that, I laughed so hard I thought my lungs would burst.

Adding to my mirth, Asuna moaned in pleasure before realizing exactly where she had planted herself. Blushing intensely, she had no time to move as Kuradeel stepped through the portal to see the dangerous position that the two were in. "EEE! Heathen, you will take your hands off Asuna this instant!" the fool screamed loudly, causing me to laugh harder. "And what are you laughing at, miserable peon? Are you planning to violate her next or something?" I stopped laughing and put my helmet on. It was lucky that the fool hadn't gotten a look at my face. He might have regressed.

Tiredly, I pulled Asuna up by the shoulder and spanked her lightly. "Control your pet, Asuna. I really don't want to have to beat him up again." She blushed harder at my abuse of the situation before steeling herself.

"What the hell are you doing, Kuradeel? Staking out my house late at night?!" Ah, so he had been caught. I tuned out their conversation and pulled up Kirito, whispering a "Good job" in his ear as he recovered. After Asuna had suitably berated the fool, she turned and made to grab our hands so we could leave, but Kuradeel physically held onto one of her wrists and began pulling her away. My eyes narrowed to slits and I stopped him with a tap on the shoulder.

"I wouldn't recommend your current course of action, fool. It'll only end in you being seriously hurt. We wouldn't that, now would we?" When the fool turned around to yell at me, he let go of Asuna and I took the opportunity to punch him straight in the face with the full power of my suit. He flew straight back before slamming into the wall of the teleporter. Laughing at his misfortune, I took off my helmet and approached him. "Now, normally I would go easy on you, but you've made a couple of mistakes."

"First, you targeted me. That's just a bad idea in general, why would you taunt the man who can kill you in a heartbeat?" I asked rhetorically, letting a little bit of my aura become visible and allowing my madness into my eyes. "Second, you're a creep. If you're going to hide, do it properly." I turned invisible and walked around him, sitting down next to his crumpled form and reentering his sight. "It's much more effective when they don't know where you're coming from. Third, and while this isn't the last mistake on the list it's possibly your biggest." I paused for emphasis and watched the fool tremble in fear.

"Ah, you remember me. It's really a pity you're still alive, I had hoped you would be killed in that alley. You're really too big of a hassle otherwise. Anyways, third mistake, that's right. The third mistake you made was offending my friends. That's one mistake you won't walk away from if you make it again. If you'd like to test me on that, feel free to duel me. Right here, right now." I sent him the request with a sinister smile on my face. I knew he would accept; his pride would overcome his fear.

"D-D-Demon, I accept your request to show you just how wrong you are. No one can protect Asuna as well as myself, and I will prove it to you." Kuradeel pushed accept and I laughed maniacally. This would be fun. After designating that no one could use special armor abilities and that the duel would go until someone dropped their weapon, we stood opposite each other. Fortunately for me, we had drawn a crowd to witness the fool's humiliation, and I reined in the madness a bit.

"You know, if it weren't for the sanctions against it in duels, I'd kill you, fool." He paled but didn't call me on any supposed bluff. Unfortunately for him, the duel countdown timer had already started, and he prepared himself as well as he could under the circumstances, tightening his grip on the long sword he carried. I, on the other hand, held my dagger limply at my side. I wouldn't need it to guard or dodge the angry man's attacks. When the timer hit zero, Kuradeel smirked nastily and came straight at me with an enraged cry.

I rolled my eyes and sidestepped his first down-strike. The fool seemed shocked at first but recovered quickly, repeatedly attempting to stab, slice, and cut me down with his sword. Chuckling, I phased out of existence and reappeared behind him. "What's wrong, fool? Can't seem to land a hit on me?" Kuradeel snarled.

"At least I try, unlike you, coward. What's wrong, afraid we'll see how pathetic you truly are? You're nothing but a demon. No one could possibly love you." Kuradeel was taunting me and I knew it. He was trying to elicit a reaction out of me so I would make a mistake. I knew that. Of course, his words _did _affect me, they just didn't quite cause the reaction he had been hoping for. Instead of making me angrier, the fool managed to give me a tighter control on my irritation. All at once I was exhilarated and infuriated, yet felt strangely cold and calculating. I dodged a few more attacks and decided that I would make him beg for death.

Suddenly I let myself smile. It was the smile of someone whose mind had deserted them. Kuradeel recoiled and I took the opportunity to phase into existence right next to him, bringing up my dagger and slicing a shallow cut in his arm. The kid gloves had come off, and before the fool could react, I had made dozens of cuts on his body. He tried to drop his weapon but I wouldn't give him the leave to, darting around him with ease and slicing away his health little by little. It wasn't that I was particularly strong, he was just so far below me that it took almost no effort to run circles around him.

Finally I stopped, twirling my dagger before sheathing it. Kuradeel collapsed to the ground at last, his eyes wide. I had left him with 1 HP before allowing him to lose the duel. I did my best to make sure he forgot I couldn't really kill him, and put the fear of God into him. When the duel concluded and declared me the winner, I turned and walked back to my friends. "Let that be a lesson to you, fool. You can't win against me. Now go home before I decide to kill you." I didn't bother looking to see if he was still listening instead throwing my arms over my friends' shoulders and dragging them off.

Asuna was the first to break the silence in our group. "What the _fuck _was that, Rok? You could have killed him!" I shook my head. I couldn't have killed him; I wouldn't have let myself. Besides, it was a safe zone.

"Asuna, calm down and think for a moment," Kirito defended, "Outside of the fact that Sarok couldn't have killed Kuradeel due to him being conscious during the duel, the moron needed a lesson beaten into him and this was the only way to do it. Can you honestly say it wasn't effective?"

Asuna stood for a moment in deliberation before reluctantly nodding. She sighed before slapping me. "Ouch, woman! What was that for?!" I had a feeling I knew, but I didn't want to say anything.

"You know damn well that was for spanking me, Rok! What the hell did you do that for?! Now I'm horny as fuck and have no way to get rid of it!" I raised an eyebrow at her words and looked pointedly at Kirito. His face was red and his eyes were wide. Asuna realized what she had said and paled significantly. "Er – sorry, Kiri. I – uh – I was – uh…" Asuna trailed off. There wasn't a logical excuse for her statement. I laughed loud and long.

"If that moan earlier was to mean anything, you've been horny for quite a bit. At least back there, the two of you were dealing with it quite nicely." The two of them blushed in unison, making me laugh harder. It was so much fun teasing them. "Oh, come on, I'm only joking. We should head to the dungeon. It's looking to be a good day."

We had been fighting for three hours, and I was just about to suggest we stop for a break when we saw a large door in the distance. The three of us stared at each other in surprise; we had found the boss room. In awe, we made our way to the base of the door: it was roughhewn and had many brutal trails through it. Normally this would suggest a weak boss, but the intricacy of the trails was well-woven, which meant that while the boss was likely a creature, it probably was very difficult. I grinned and met eyes with Kirito.

"No harm in checking inside, right? As long as we have our Crystals at the ready, there shouldn't be any involved risks with looking at the boss." Kirito nodded at my words and together we pushed open the heavy doors, beckoning Asuna inside from between us. Together we entered the boss room a little, just enough to trigger the code that led to the spawning and subsequent revealing of the boss.

Unfortunately, the room was pitch black. It appeared we would be fighting from the dark, a worrying thought, when torches started lighting themselves along the sides of the room. There were three rings, and at the center was one of the few things that utterly terrified me. Standing in the dead center was a blue minotaur with a massive one-handed sword. I twitched, backing away from the room slowly and pulling my friends with me. The boss's name was 'The Gleam Eyes'.

"Well fuck," I swore. "I think that this situation constitutes FuckCon 5. Anyone with me?" Kirito and Asuna nodded mutely. This was going to be interesting.


	10. Bad Ideas

_Chapter 10: Bad Ideas_

After seeing the 74th floor boss, the three of us essentially ran away screaming, not stopping our motion until we were far from the boss room and in a safe zone. When we stopped I swore loudly and collapsed against the wall of the dungeon next to Kirito, panting from exertion. Asuna plopped down on Kirito's other side, and I groaned. "What the literal fuck was that supposed to be?" I asked incredulously, "How are we supposed to kill that – that _thing_?!" I shook my head. The entire situation was laughable.

Asuna was about to reply when all of a sudden Klein and his guild appeared in front of us. "Hey guys, what's up? It's nice to see you again, Sarok. Kirito. Huh?" Klein noticed Asuna next to us. "Who's that? I thought you were a solo player, Kirito!" Klein walked up to us.

"That's Asuna, Klein. I would have thought that the two of you had met on the front lines once or twice. She's the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood, after all. She runs most of the raid planning meetings." My words fell short as Klein grasped Asuna's hands affectionately.

"H-Hi! My name's Klein, and I'm a 24 year old single male looking for a beautiful girlf-" Klein's spiel was interrupted by Kirito's boot into his crotch. He flew backwards into his guild, who unsheathed their weapons menacingly at us.

"Oh, now you've gone and done it, Kirito. Now his entire guild is angry. You just _had _to defend your property, didn't you?" Asuna glared scathingly at me but I only smiled. Klein took this moment to stand back up and calm his guild members.

"It's alright guys, these are friends. This fine gentleman is Kirito and the intimidating fellow next to him goes by the name of Sarok. If you ask me, he's a bit loose in the head, but he'll deny it."

I smiled disarmingly. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Klein! You know what they say, after all: The insane ones are often the most content in life. We don't have to question our own sanity, see?" I cackled. "It's so much more fun to give in to the madness. You feel so… so _free_!" I lost it, laughing at nothing.

My friends just stared at me until my episode abated. "Um, anyways," Klein continued, "What are you doing with such a fine specimen, Kirito? I thought you were a solo player." Kirito rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"We wanted to be nostalgic and party together again like in the old days before I joined the KotB," Asuna spoke up. "I almost had to threaten him, but Sarok took care of his reticence." Klein glanced at me and I winked, causing him to abruptly face Asuna with a stiff neck.

"Right then. Have you found the boss yet?" Klein's comment sobered the mood quickly. "We were just there, and it's pretty horrible. How are we ever going to beat _that_?"

"I don't know, Klein. I don't know. In any case, we should head back to town and get some rest. There's no time to dawdle." My friends nodded and we turned to head back when we heard the crisp voice of a military officer ringing through the dungeon close to us. We met eyes with each other and waited. True to our suspicions, the next moment a regiment of soldiers came around the corner, their CO in front shouting commands. When he saw us, he called for a halt and his men collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

I narrowed my eyes; this was the Aincrad Liberation Army. They had been on the front lines until Kibaou, who had joined their guild after the first floor debacle, led a charge against the 25th floor boss and decimated 75% of their forces. Kibaou was demoted from his post as Advance Commander. Since that incident, the Army hadn't been seen except for the first few floors. The commander of the platoon stopped in front of us, turning to me in deference.

"Sir! My name is Lieutenant Colonel Korbatz! I have heard that you have been to the boss room ahead of here and would humbly request that you hand over the map data so that we as the ALF may take care of the boss!" I narrowed my eyes; while I was wearing the most encompassing armor, I looked far from a leader.

"LC Korbatz, surely you don't mean to fight the monstrosity inside? As a member of the highest assault team, I would recommend against your actions." I decided to be sane for once and not provoke him. I saw the man grimace in suppressed anger and sighed. "I see. So be it." I transmitted the data amongst the protests of my friends but silenced them with a look. "Be careful. Your men look tired. I doubt that they can stand up to much punishment in their condition." Korbatz glared at me with fire in his eyes.

"I will be the judge of that, sir! I don't answer to you, and my men are strong enough to handle a simple floor boss!" He yelled for his men to get up and they obeyed him begrudgingly. I flattened my mouth into a thin line and turned to Kirito, Asuna, and Klein after he was out of earshot.

"They're going to die if we don't follow them. I could see in Korbatz's posture that he is much too arrogant to consider that he could lose a fight against AI." My compatriots gave me grim looks and nodded. We made to follow them, but Klein stopped Asuna and I before we could move too far.

"You guys take care of Kirito, you hear? He needs some love in his life." Klein stared pointedly at Asuna and she smiled brightly, nodding despite the situation we were in at the moment. With that, we walked out of the safe zone and caught up to the rest of the group. I took the lead with Kirito, donning my helmet and taking solace in the fact that I was surrounded by allies.

Suddenly the group of us heard a loud scream from up ahead. Without hesitation we sprinted to the door to the boss at full speed. It was wide open, and upon reaching the gateway a gruesome sight greeted us. The boss was tearing through the Army soldiers. Two of them were standing stock still in fear, and one of them tried desperately to use a teleportation crystal, but it wouldn't work. My eyes widened; there was an Anti-Teleport field over the room.

Unfortunately for the two idle men, The Gleam Eyes turned and sliced them in half in one smooth motion, killing them instantly. I grimaced as Korbatz called for a charge at seeing his subordinates fall. I tried to scream a warning as The Gleam Eyes staged an AOE attack, but it fell on deaf ears. As a result, the players were thrown back. The boss used a breath assault to catch the players unawares, further demolishing their health.

Korbatz charged alone once more, his health dangerously low. There wasn't time to say anything as he was forcefully thrown back to the entrance by the boss's massive free fist, landing at our feet. As his HP dropped to zero, his visor cracked open and revealed defiant eyes. "Im…pos…sible…" he coughed out before bursting into polygons. My vision went red and I charged into the room, pulling my dagger and phasing to move more rapidly. I sensed vaguely the form of Asuna beside me and Kirito behind her.

We were tired of people dying in front of us, and I noticed with some trepidation that the boss was about to kill some more Army players. With a calculating look, I phased to directly under the path of the blade and held up my hands, catching it and pushing it to the side of us. I pushed the players in the direction of the door, hoping they'd understand. They did, and I nodded once before phasing to another group that was in danger. Ushering them out of the way, I didn't stop until everyone was safely at the door to the chamber.

Confident that I had saved everyone, I rolled my neck and cracked my knuckles, smiling for the fight that would come next. However, when I turned back to face my two friends, Kirito had both of his swords out to fight The Gleam Eyes. I laughed as I watched him move faster and faster, tearing into the boss with no regard to his health. I guessed that he had remembered the last time he was in a room with no way out, and simply gazed on as he executed the most complicated combo on the face of this earth.

Slash, strike, x-strike. It repeated on and on until Kirito was a blur of motion. The Gleam Eyes roared in fury with every strike and punched Kirito, but it only succeeded in pushing him further over the edge. Slash, strike, double thrust and pull, the battle continued on. One health bar dropped followed by another and then a third as Kirito landed blow after blow on the monster.

On the last strike of Kirito's combo, however, the boss caught his sword in one meaty hand, meaning to strike him with its sword. I held Asuna back from rushing to him with one arm, watching impassively as Kirito flipped up and into the boss with his Elucidator, the boss's weapon inches from impaling him. The Gleam Eyes exhaled and exploded, leaving my friend on his back unseeingly. I glanced at his health and grimaced; he was at 40 HP and dropping. Sparing no time, I made my way to him and shoved a Healing Crystal in his face.

After seeing his health climb back into the green, I sighed and took off my helmet. I had almost lost my best friend, and I didn't quite know how to react. Asuna was crying openly as she held him in her lap. He woke up after a minute, wondering briefly why he was on the ground before wondering additionally who was hugging him in such an awkward manner. Asuna had embraced him upside down when she noticed his eyes opening, and his face was buried in her breasts.

I would have made a comment, but I understood the sentiment. I tapped Asuna on the shoulder and she got up. I squatted next to my friend and pushed him into a sitting position, waiting for him to meet my eyes before punching him in the face. "You're an ass for making us worry like that. You very nearly died, Kiri! What the fuck were you thinking?!" There wasn't any malice behind my words but they still struck true. Kirito turned away from me in shame. I softened my voice, hugging him hard. "It's alright. I understand on some level how you feel. I was there once too. What was that skill, by the way? I knew you had something special planned since you hadn't been using my wife's sword, but really? Duel wielding?"

"It's called Dual Blades. It just kind of appeared in my inventory around six months ago. I tested it with a spare sword I had with me, but right from the start I could tell I would need something more powerful. That's why I went to Lisbeth." I nodded. The timing made sense, and I stood, turning to the Klein and the others, all of whom were looking rather expectant.

"Alright, guys, you should go on ahead. Asuna and I have got Kirito here, and I don't think he's really up to talking about his skill. If you really must know, it's called Dual Blades and it's probably along the same lines in terms of uniqueness as Heathcliff's Divine Blade or my Devil Deal, which means that the average swordsman can't get it unless the fit the unknown criteria." Dejectedly, the group nodded before turning to head into the yet-unforeseen 75th floor, leaving the three of us alone at last.

After everyone had left, I let myself collapse next to Asuna and Kirito, who were hugging each other tightly. I smiled softly at the pair before letting a tear travel down my cheek. Hoping they wouldn't notice, I closed my eyes and tried not to lose my composure. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. "What's wrong, Rok?" Asuna had asked, her voice tinged with tired worry. I took a moment to respond.

"It's a lot of things, babe. However, now is neither the time nor the place for my problems. I have to talk to Liz first. Besides, we should really get out of here and go back home." I dodged her inquiries with the promise of speaking to my wife, but Asuna still gazed at me suspiciously for a moment. Eventually she sighed and averted her eyes.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Come on, Kirito, we're going to take you home to my place for the night. Rok, you get his left side. I'll get his right." I nodded and we hoisted our friend up to lean on our shoulders. Gratefully, he accepted our help for once and we exited the room so we could use our teleport crystals. As we were leaving, Asuna summed up our thoughts with a statement. "That was scary. I – I think that I'm going to take a break from the KotB. I was scared for you, Kirito. I don't want you to die." I grimaced and fell silent.

After I dropped off Asuna and Kirito, I made my way home to Liz. "Rika, I'm home," I intoned when I walked through the door, my voice empty of feeling. "We need to talk." My wife came running at my curious tone and words, hugging me firmly and kissing me soundly on the lips in greeting. When I didn't respond, she stepped back with a look of intense worry on her face, meeting my eyes. Hers widened, as if seeing my despair for the first time. She pulled me inside and sat me down on our couch.

"What's wrong?" She didn't know the weight her words had in my mind. Unknown to me, her words caused tears to roll down my face. I didn't notice until I felt the strange wetness drip onto my hands, which were clasped stiffly in my lap. I tried to steel myself to speak, but every time I opened my mouth to speak I found I couldn't and closed it again. Though the tears were silent, there was an air of terrific sadness in the room, and I felt Rika gasp next to me.

"I – I'm losing it," I managed, my voice finally gaining some form of emotion. "I don't remember who I used to be. I'm a monster, or close to it, and I don't know how to be human anymore. I'm too caught up in violence. I like watching people in pain, I laugh when I hurt others. I feel no remorse. Is that normal, Rika? Is it normal for a human to kill in cold blood and feel enjoyment from it? Who am I?!" I spoke the last part in a desperate plea for answers.

"I'm losing my mind, and I don't know how to find it again. I'm so lost, Rika. Help." The volume of my words was that of a low whisper, and I felt my wife's arms wrap around me. She laid her head against my trembling arm, humming softly until I had cried myself dry.

"You're my husband," she started, "You're a fearsome warrior with a dark but dry sense of humor. You put utmost value into the happiness of your friends and feel out of place in large crowds. You're one paranoid bastard, but you use everything you have to protect your family. You have an amazing ability to love, and you know your limits. You know the risks behind your powers, and you still use them if it means saving a life. It doesn't matter if your appearance is twisted, it doesn't matter if your personality is darker. I will still love you. I will always love you, my husband."

I was astounded. In a few words, Rika had assuaged all my concerns and helped rebuild my sense of self to a respectable levels. She made to continue. "Your name is Charles Galat, and your screen name is Sarok. You take pride in your amazing friends and your amazing wife. Every time you walk into a room, your friends smile or blush in anticipation of your next joke. You're a valued member of each of our lives. You have nothing to worry about, so long as you keep to your morals, which are some of the strongest I've seen despite your tendency to kill."

I tried to smile, and succeeded to a point. "Thank you," I said, my voice finally soft and loving. "You've saved me again. I don't know how I could possibly survive without you, my wife. I love you with everything I am, everything I was, and everything I will be." I sat up straight, my black eyes filled with steely determination. "I'll win this game. I'll win it for you." With that, we disappeared into our bedroom.

The next day, I met a terrified-looking Kirito in Agil's shop. Apparently, one of the Army guys had reported on his Hidden Skill to the news, and word had spread of the Black Swordsman who soloed a Floor Boss with two swords and won. When I walked in, the bell over the door jingled and my two friends' heads swiveled as one to meet my eyes. Kirito tensed up until he saw it was me, and he scampered over to plead with me. "I've been followed all day by people who want my skill, Sarok! You've got to help me, is there anything you can do to help me?" I rolled my eyes and hoisted him up with one arm, moving back to Agil and ignoring Kirito's sputtering.

"How's it going, bud? My wife's going to come in in a moment to resupply. Hope you don't mind that I came in first, I was looking for this fool." Agil let out a laugh and nodded, turning to open his inventory and move some items around. Kirito, meanwhile, had stopped struggling, and I put him down cautiously. "Are you finished now?" I asked him.

"Yes," Kirito grumbled. "I'm okay now." He looked as though he wanted to say more, but the front door jingled once more and Liz walked in. She spied Kirito and I and smiled brilliantly.

"Well, looks like everyone's here then. Kirito, is there a reason that you had to go and spread around our secret? I was looking forward to breaking it to Rok here." My mouth dropped open. Somehow, Liz had known about Dual Blades, and moreover managed to keep the information from everyone, including myself. My left eye started twitching, and Liz laughed when she saw my clearly incredulous expression. "On second thought, maybe this was worth it after all. Rok, you'd better close your mouth before you find me in it!"

I closed my mouth, reconsidered her statement, and opened my mouth again, this time only slightly. My wife grinned at me lecherously and approached, giving me a solid smooch. She separated from me after a while, leaving me flushed and with a broad grin. Looking around the room, I noticed with glee that we had successfully made both Kirito and Agil uncomfortable. In addition, Asuna had walked in just in time to see Liz grope me, and she was flushed more so than even me.

Laughing at the situation, I shook Asuna out of her stupor. She gazed calculatingly at Kirito for a moment and licked her lips before sobering with a shake of her head. She strode regally over to him and stated quite simply that they had a problem, and that he needed to come with her at that moment.

Unfortunately for Asuna, Kirito was still stuck in whatever land my wife and I had put him in, and just kind of fell over into her, putting them both on the floor with Asuna on top. My laughter reached new heights of hilarity as Kirito finally realized his surroundings. More specifically, my friend notice that he was holding Asuna in a certain manner that made her give an involuntary moan. I was sure at this point that I would never have to breathe again because of all the laughter. Not that Liz was in much better shape than me.

After the two on the ground finished their 'intimate' moment, I wiped tears out of my eyes. Still laughing a bit, I asked Asuna, "What's up? I was looking for Kirito to take him somewhere I found the other day for eats. If your problem is so important we can go there first, yes? More help is better than none, after all." I knew I was rambling, but I had an earnest desire to help. Maybe that's why they kept me around.

"Heathcliff won't give me leave. He wants to see Kirito for some reason. You're welcome to come too, of course. The commander didn't place any sanctions on my bringing others, after all." We grinned at each other broadly. I turned to Liz and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll be back tonight, hon. Keep the bed warm for me," I smirked, "We'll make it even warmer when I come home." I appended the last part for way of humor. It was much too fun to make Kirito and Asuna uncomfortable with our innuendo. Liz moaned in anticipation, adding to the blushes of my compatriots. At that, though, we made our leave from Agil's shop, teleporting to Granzam, the home of the KotB headquarters, in short order.

It didn't take long to make an audience with _Commander _Heathcliff. It wasn't so much that I didn't like the man; on the contrary, I rather respected him. It was just that something seemed off about him. It was certainly commendable that he had managed 74 floors without his health going below green, and the man had never lost a duel. He had plenty to be proud of. However, I felt on some level that he had some ulterior motive. Call it paranoia, I call it common sense.

Heathcliff was sitting behind a large marble table when we entered the room. He was seated above everyone else and had an air of superiority about him. "Ah, Vice-Commander Asuna, I see you've returned from your errand. You've brought Kirito as I've requested, and – what is this – the mythical Spider Sarok? Where could you have possibly found this gem?" I said nothing, frowning. The man was clearly mocking us, even though my friends couldn't see it. "As silent as your reputation claims, I see, Sarok."

"What do you want, Heath – Commander?" Kirito asked, intentionally stumbling over the man's title. It was obvious to all he held the commander in contempt. "I heard that you wouldn't accept Asuna's request for leave." I took this moment to speak up, startling the room with my voice, which I had tailored to be smooth and suspicious considering my company.

"Yes, Commander, why is that? Surely there is nothing wrong with one of your members asking for some time off? It is no different than the operations of any military. The soldier has a set number of days available for a vacation of leave from service. To deny that is to deny one's rights to live. This is our reality, Commander. Will you deny Asuna her rights?"

The commander simply raised an eyebrow at my words. I suppose I didn't really expect anything different. "Tell me, Sarok," he started, accentuating the –ok in my name. "Were _you _in the army by any chance? You seem to know an awful lot about their operations. Maybe the special forces?" I laughed; a quiet, unsettling chuckle that reverberated through the room. I was harnessing the lowest level of my madness.

"Far from it, _Commander. _Let's leave it at that and move on to the real reason we're here." I didn't want to give the contemptible excuse for a man any information he didn't need. I didn't know whether he was going to try to use it against me if I did.

"Right, right. Back to Kirito. Kirito," he said, turning to the boy, "You come to us all of a sudden to take away one of our prized commanders and our most valuable asset. In response to your gall, I propose a wager. Should you accept this wager, we will have a duel lasting sixty seconds. Should you win, Asuna will be granted leave from the guild. Should I, however, prove victorious over you, you will join the Knights of the Blood." My eyes narrowed.

"I accept." Kirito stated simply. I stared at him for a moment before nodding. He was fighting for that which he loved, and I would respect his decision. Asuna could fight it all she wanted, and I had a feeling Kirito would still reject her concerns. Satisfied, I met the commander's eyes with my black pools, steeling them and promising myself I would find out what was so off about the man.

After we left the HQ, Asuna and I had a two-on-one duel with Kirito to prepare him for the task ahead. It was bound to be difficult to defeat Heathcliff. Even though I hated him, there was a grudging respect for his dueling record. We continued our practice until Kirito could defeat the both of us at once with his Dual Blades. By the end we were rather impressed with his improvements. He had a chance now, and I bid my friends adieu as I went home to Liz.

It was around eleven pm when I got home, and I walked in with a smile on my face. I walked into our living room to the pleasant sight of my wife wearing her nightdress and sitting cross-legged on the couch reading a book from our collection. I grinned widely and shed my armor. She hadn't seen me yet, and lucky for me the couch was facing away from the door. Moving quietly, I walked right behind her and threw my arms around her torso.

Liz screamed in surprise before turning around and slapping me half-heartedly. "What have I told you about scaring me like that, Charlie?" I grinned wider and pulled her into a hug, humming contentedly into her hair.

"I missed you, Rika. A lot happened today. Kirito and Asuna are on the brink of finally getting together. In fact, Kirito all but admitted his love for Asuna by accepting a duel against Heathcliff to get her leave." Rika shot back and looked me in the eyes to see if I was telling the truth. What she found didn't disappoint her, and she squealed in excitement.

"Oh, that's so perfect! Did Asuna notice the significance? Of course she didn't, what am I saying, those two are about as thick as a brick wall in regards to the other's feelings. So when's the duel?" she asked, and I felt the sudden compulsion to kiss her. Doing just that and pulling away after a minute (our physical affections were rather rambunctious), I pulled back and grinned ear-to-ear.

"The duel's tomorrow on the 75th floor. You want to come with me to watch? Afterwards we can go get some lunch with everyone no matter the outcome." My wife smiled and nodded before leaning her head against my shoulder. "Rika?"

"Yes, Charlie?"

"I'm glad I found you. You know that, right? I love you so much." A solitary blood tear ran down my face and dripped onto her shoulder, disappearing into red polygons upon contact.

"I know, babe. And I'm glad for finding you, too. Let's go to bed. We've got to wake up at what, eleven tomorrow? There's something I've been meaning to show you and we might be at it for a while." Rika pulled away from me with an impish smile, and my eyes filled with anticipation. It was going to be a fun night, and who else could I spend it with than the one I loved the most in the world, in any world?

The next morning, the two of us untangled and made our way to the coliseum that was recently unlocked on the 75th floor. My wife and I met Kirito and a nervous-looking Asuna at the gate, my arm around Rika's waist and hers around mine. I had a shit-eating grin on my face that made my friends blush in understanding when they saw us. My wife and I may have been a bit too open about our sex life, and we exaggerated it a bit too often, but we had to admit it had some hefty appeal to embarrass our friends.

My smile faded under the possible stress of the situation and I analyzed Heathcliff from my sparse experience with him. "Kirito," I started, gaining his attention along with Asuna's. "This is possibly going to be you most difficult battle yet. Upon scrounging all my knowledge of Heathcliff's fighting style from my experiences with him, I've come to a couple of conclusions. First, the best defense for you is to go on a good offense, as I'm sure you're already aware of. Second, the commander has maxed attack and defense skills due to his own special skill, and may try to use his shield as a weapon since it's so encompassing on his body. Be careful." He nodded and returned to speaking with Asuna quietly.

Soon, it was time for the duel to begin, and Asuna stood next to me, gazing worriedly at the field. "Do you think he'll be able to win, Sarok?" she asked me. I waited a few moments before answering, taking the time to gather my thoughts as I watched Kirito and Heathcliff stare each other down. I sighed at last, opening my mouth to respond.

"I don't think it's a matter of whether he's going to be _able _to win, Asuna. With Kirito, it will be more a matter of will. _Will _he win? I don't know. He certainly has the ability, and he certainly has the motive. You know he's fighting for you, right?" Asuna turned sharply, looking for a joke in my words. There was none, and I met her gaze evenly. "For all I joke about sex and love, Asuna, it's a serious thing. I have a desire to see the two of you happy, and I _promise _you I will do all in my power to do so."

I stared out onto the field. The timer had started from sixty seconds. "What I feel for Liz; that love is something that needs to be shared. No one deserves to go without it; cliché, I know, but I believe in that firmly, with everything I have. I can see it growing between the two of you. If it comes down to it, I'll _make _him survive. I'll _make _him remember that he has us. More importantly, I'll _make _him remember that he has you." I turned back to Asuna and softened my gaze. "That is the most important thing for Kirito, and also the biggest problem. Will he remember that during his duel? I believe that if he is to win, then Kirito must remember that fact and capitalize on it."

Asuna nodded after a moment and we turned back to the field of battle. The timer struck zero, but Kirito and Heathcliff simply circled each other. It made sense; the best way to find a whole in an impregnable defense was to go on the offense the moment your opponent made a mistake. The stances taken by the two players resembled their personalities; Kirito's a tense offensive with his swords in either hand, one held in a reverse grip while Heathcliff hiding half-behind his tower shield with the long sword pointing to the side regally.

A single sweat drop made its way down Kirito's face and onto the ground, and Heathcliff struck. He was unbelievably fast, an unusual trait for an STR build based on heavy armor. Kirito was caught off guard and barely spun out of the range of attack, the commander's sword whistling into the air where Kirito's chest had been a second earlier. Kirito launched a simple swipe against the man but was repulsed by his shield, using it as a foothold to escape.

The two stood in silence for only a moment before the commander made to use his shield to break Kirito's concentration. Luckily, I had prepared him for such a situation and Kirito used the opportunity to jump backwards, Heathcliff overextending and losing his balance slightly. Kirito smiled grimly and made a thin slice against his opponents' flank. Heathcliff grimaced and seethed; it appeared he truly hadn't anticipated Kirito's knowledge of the shield.

I allowed myself a smile as the duel lulled into an exchange of equal blows, the two players evening their health down to a somewhat equal level. Kirito had a slight advantage, though, due to his surprise cautiousness earlier. Heathcliff was snarling at his situation and I let loose a laugh tinged with madness. Kirito was going to do it. He was going to win. I felt a hand slide into mine and I stopped laughing in an instant, reining in the insanity and squeezing the hand. "Thanks, Liz," I said.

It seemed Kirito had the same idea, and he initiated his fastest skill on the commander, slicing his swords quicker and quicker and forcing Heathcliff into a decisive retreat as he struggled to block all the strikes. Suddenly, his shield was forced to the side by Kirito's Elucidator, and his eyes widened in shock before narrowing imperceptibly. Suspicious now, I focused on the man as a hint of a smile crept onto his face and he moved impossibly fast. I growled low in my throat.

I didn't bother watching the rest, knowing that Kirito had lost even before the duel concluded. "Liz?" I started, my eyes ablaze with barely restrained fury, "Go with Asuna. I need to tend to something really fast. I know why the _commander _so irks me now." My wife searched me before nodding once and squeezing my hand before letting go and rushing to Kirito's side with Asuna.

I stalked towards Heathcliff, not bothering to don my helmet and instead letting my darkness seep out of the exposed collar to my armor. "We need to talk." I spat when I reached him. He looked at me with wide eyes, and I was surprised to see fear in his expression despite my suspicions. I pushed him against the wall of the coliseum and leaned close to his face. "I know you, now, Heathcliff. Or should I say, Kayaba?" Comically, his eyes widened further, and I laughed maniacally and loudly, the madness leaking past my defenses. "Oh, so I was right, was I? I was right about you?" Uncontrollable laughing interspersed my words. "This is ripe; this is great! I'm going to enjoy this!" Unknown to me, my wings had half-unfurled from my back, and I had drawn my blade on the man in front of me.

"Rok! Don't!" I heard a shout from behind me and my rage broke. I regained control of my faculties and narrowed my black pools to slits, speaking coldly to the _man _in front of me.

"Know this, _Commander. _My wife saved your life this day. Next time we meet on the field of battle on opposite sides, you _will _die by my hand. Do you understand me? Sarok and all his madness will be coming for you! Nothing you can try will stop me!" I stepped away from the quivering mess of GM in front of me and took a deep breath. "Where's your composure now, Kayaba? Where's your cool collective? You're pitiful." I spat on the ground next to him and strode back to my friends.

When I reached them, Asuna had the nerve to slap me. "What the fuck was that, Sarok? The commander didn't deserve that!" I glared at her but kept silent about my revelation, perhaps selfishly. I sought Liz's hand, but none was forthcoming, and my eyes shot to her, going wide when I noticed she had turned away from me.

I reached a hand to touch her shoulder, but she shook me off and walked away. "When you can control yourself, come and see me. Until then, _husband, _you are no longer welcome to my presence." Her tone broke something inside me; I collapsed to my knees in sorrow. I let out a keening wail and used all my strength to teleport to town. I rented a room numbly at a nearby inn and lay on the bed. It was the first time since I could remember that I was alone.


	11. Certainty

_Chapter 11: Certainty_

I was lost. I had gone over my actions hundreds of thousands of times in the past day, but I came no closer to understanding how I had lost control so thoroughly. Liz hadn't been responding to any of my messages, and I lost all feeling as the sun rose over the horizon. "Please help me," I prayed out loud, having scarcely thought about my faith since coming into the game. "I don't know what to do. I'm so lost and have no way of knowing what to do without my friends. Lead me, please." Light shined into the room and I sighed, tears of blood staining my face as I sunk to the ground.

I sobbed for a while. I don't know how long it was, but eventually I got up and leaned out the window. I thought about the duel one last time and came to the realization that from everyone else's perspective, I had no motive to assault Heathcliff. No one else knew his true identity. I let a final tear make its way down my face before screaming to the world in rage, quashing all my emotions and messaging Agil. He was my best bet for finding Kirito and Asuna.

I received a response almost instantly. They were both in his shop, and I closed my menu without a second thought, not bothering to finish reading. I quickly teleported to the 55th floor, purposefully striding through the crowds until I entered the Item Shop, the bell jingling at my entrance. Agil caught my eye and recoiled slightly at the void he met before nodding at the stairs. Nodding impassively, I took the stairs two at a time until I reached the top.

I stopped at the first door on my left, steeling my face into a mask of indifference. I knocked in the center of the wood and waited for the affirmation from inside the room for me to come in. Opening the door, I entered the room and gazed about. There weren't just two in the room. My wife was there too, and I crushed the pain I felt, letting my eyes simply roll over her. "Kirito. Asuna." I refused to acknowledge her presence. "I have news for you regarding my actions yesterday. I had my reasons for attacking the commander, but I'm not at liberty to explain until I speak to him once more."

I cleared my throat before continuing. "I apologize for abandoning you, Kirito. I'd like to say it won't happen again, but I don't know how much longer I'll be around. A man with nothing to live for is the one most certain to make a mistake, after all." I turned to leave the room, stopping inches from the doorknob. "One more thing, this time for Lisbeth. A question, if I may." No one stopped me, and I continued. "Does the act of emotionlessness count as 'control' in your eyes? It seems that way in mine, and I'd like to thank you for your harsh words yesterday. Emotion was only holding me back from my true potential, and I realized I've been a fool thus far to believe that it helped me."

At this, I left the room, leaving the shop without a thought and making my way to the Knights of the Blood headquarters, not stopping until I was at the doors to the main conference room. I had left the guards behind me trembling in fear at my aura, and I slammed open the doors to the room with a motion. The members of the upper echelon of the guild recoiled at my look, and began protesting my rude entry into their obviously important meeting. I merely tilted my head to the side and gestured to Heathcliff.

The commander nodded, and called for his minions to leave us. A few made to complain, but the combined glare of both myself and Heathcliff silenced them. After they had all left the room and the doors had been barred, Heathcliff dropped his persona and met me on the floor. "You've cost me everything, and now my emotion is gone too. I'm probably as close as I'm going to get to your level." I stated. Kayaba nodded and made to respond.

"What will you do now?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"I wasn't joking, you know. What I said back on the field. I will kill you. It won't be the first time. Judging by your fear at my darkness, it's already transcended your programming. Amazing how things happen, isn't it? First deemed inconsequential, now I'm the biggest threat to your existence. That isn't what you asked, though."

A minute passed before I spoke again. "I'll keep your identity quiet for now. There's little to gain from spreading it around right now since we have so many floors left. I have two requests for you, though. First, keep me posed on where you send Kirito. That should be easy for you." Kayaba leaned forward inquisitively as I paused for effect between sentences. "Give me limited admin abilities. I don't want or need enough power to change everything about the system, that would be cheating, and even in this hell I despise cheating on that level. I only request that you give me the ability to either create teleport crystals or teleport to a certain player without a teleport crystal. Either way works."

Kayaba sighed and there was impregnable silence in the room while he considered my offer. I thought for a moment he would deny me my boon but he nodded slightly and opened his menu, authorizing me the use of the teleport source code. It was a good thing I was a programmer outside the full-dive, and I bowed slightly towards the man in thanks. He may have been a contemptible excuse for a human being, but an understanding passed between us in that moment along with a grudging amount of respect.

I didn't bother saying goodbye, instead confidently striding out of the HQ with the hint of a smile on my face. On my way out the front doors, Kirito and Asuna passed me, Kirito in a garish white and red uniform far flashier than his usual black and grey. I winced slightly after they had passed and went back to my inn room to sort through the code Kayaba had given me and editing it to allow me the freedom of travel I desired. Once I finished exploring, I lay on my back in my bed. I wasn't looking forward to my dreams.

*BZZT!* *BZZZT!* *BZZT!* The alarm shocked me awake and I wiped my face with one hand, slightly surprised to find tears staining it red. I wearily turned off my alarm and opened up my menus. I noticed that Liz had sent me more than a few messages, but I ignored them for the moment, gazing instead at a message from Heathcliff. He was informing me that Kirito was being sent on a routine training exercise with Commander Godfrey. The message also contained a name I did not enjoy the sight of: Kuradeel. It appeared that Kuradeel and Kirito were in the same party, and I had a bad feeling about the whole situation.

Instead of rushing off, I meditated my actions for a short while before making an ultimate decision. Teleporting directly to Asuna, I caught her in the middle of changing her clothes. Upon catching sight of me, she screamed loudly, causing her guard to come rushing in. That only made my situation worse, as now I had a furiously embarrassed Asuna and a confused guard demanding to know what was happening. Sighing loudly, I mustered as much dignity as I could before grabbing the guard by the neck and pulling him out of the room with me.

"I'm here to see Asuna about something urgent. Heathcliff gave me permission to be here. I didn't expect to walk in on that. If you have a problem with my presence, suck it up because I'm not leaving. Do you understand?" The guard meant to speak and I silenced him with a glare. Cowed, he nodded meekly and stood back in his post to the side of the door. After a short time of waiting, I knocked on the door.

"Come in!" her strained voice sounded from within the chamber. Sighing, I entered with what was hopefully a dignified gait. I couldn't look weak in front of her. "Sarok, I'd like to ask what that was, but I know you won't respond. What do you want?" Her voice was cold, and it only served to reaffirm my choice to squash all feeling.

"I thought you'd like to know that Kirito is not only in a party with Godfrey, but also Kuradeel. While I'm sure he can take care of himself, Kuradeel might try to spring a trap. You may want to watch Kirito's status for anything suspicious. I know you're still in a party with him." A silent alarm went off and I opened the corresponding menu, nodding after a moment. "I need to go. Give my regards to Lisbeth, Klein, and Agil."

"Sarok, wait-" Asuna started, but I was already gone. Instead of using my teleport, this time I simply triggered my visibility and left without a sound, making my way to the box canyon where Kirito was supposed to be. At the entrance, I found that there were four guards. Upon closer inspection, all the players in front of me had Laughing Coffin tattoos. Grimacing, I weighed my options, eventually settling on making myself visible right in front of them.

Doing just that, I relished the surprise on their faces. My jet black armor and blue visor was clearly unsettling to them, and I raised an arm to my chest, twirling my dagger expertly. "You boys going to let me through or do I have to skewer you?" I asked, knowing they would try to attack me with numbers.

The player on the far left cackled. "_You, _kill _us?_" he mocked. "We have you outnumbered four-to-one. There's no way you can kill us. Come on guys, let's get rid of this fucker." I smirked inside the helmet, sadistic glee filling me as I flipped my dagger into the air only to catch it in a reverse grip on its way down.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of me by now, fools," I started, laughing a bit as confusion dawned on their faces. "I'm the Spider, and I think you've underestimated me. I killed eleven of your guild mates in one go with little help. I don't think I'll have much trouble with you four."

Noticeably nervous with realization dawning on the far left player's face, I struck quickly, gliding instantly to the man's side and slitting his throat. He fell to the ground with wide eyes, and his three compatriots gazed with wide eyes where his body fell. Their mistake cost them, and by the time they regained their wits I had already killed the one on the far right, slicing thousands of times into his body in an instant. I stopped moving directly between the remaining players, inspecting my knife for scratches before ducking as one player thrust at me. His sword stabbed his partner through the face, and he looked on in horror as he died.

"You know, I'm half tempted to let you live and tell the rest of what's left of your guild about what happened. Then again, you could still get the drop on me, couldn't you?" I kept thinking aloud as the man fell to his knees in front of me, begging for his life. I stopped him with a look. He may not have been able to see my face, but it was undoubtedly terrifying to see, and the results were immediate. He fell onto his back and froze in place. "Oh, come on, you're making it easy for me. Go, and never come back. If you do, I'll know." Nodding furiously, the player fled out of the canyon.

Sighing, I walked deeper into the canyon, stopping when I saw Kuradeel stab Godfrey through the chest, killing him. Kirito was paralyzed nearby, and I decided to bide my time. Asuna was likely on her way by now, and I wanted to let her handle it. Still, I kept a healing crystal at the ready in case things went south. Lounging against the wall, I watched something crack in Kuradeel's expression. It seemed he couldn't control the madness inside of him, and it tore his mind apart.

The coward began stabbing Kirito, but Kirito refused to show too much pain, instead taunting Kuradeel. I shook my head; that was a mistake. Kuradeel snarled and began stabbing faster and harder, twisting the blade in Kirito's wounds. As I prepared to intervene, a white blur darted past me and slammed into Kuradeel, throwing him against the wall. Dazed, he sat there just long enough for Asuna to heal Kirito's wounds and leave him, approaching the coward with a furious look in her eyes.

While she was preoccupied with her subordinate, I watched Kirito as he stood up, stretching painfully. My eyes widened, however, when he moved with a speed previously unseen of him into the path of Kuradeel's sword. Apparently, the man had gotten Asuna to flinch, and was mid-swing. The sword lopped off Kirito's hand, and Kirito proceeded to drive his remaining hand into Kuradeel's gut. As the light went out of his eyes, Kuradeel accused Kirito, claiming he was a murderer. I gritted my teeth as an onslaught of painful memories arose at that simple word, and I nearly collapsed to my knees.

I don't know how long I was lost in my mind, but when I opened my eyes again, Kirito and Asuna were locking lips, and I smiled slightly. Unfortunately, the sight of their budding relationship reopened more wounds I had sealed, and I fought the urge to cry out as my composure broke. Idly, I transported myself to the top of the canyon and then teleported somewhere else. When I arrived wherever I had gone, not caring for my surroundings, I tore off my helmet and screamed into the air, tears running down my face in pain. I was certain I was going to die. My mind felt like it was splitting in two at the number of repressed memories coming to the forefront at once, and I held my head on both sides, slamming it against the first wall I could find.

"Make it stop, make it stop, MAKE IT STOP!" I screamed, curling into a ball on the ground and writhing. My HP wasn't decreasing at all, but physical and mental pain were two different subjects. Finally, the pain stopped, and my muscles stopped clenching. My body became a ragdoll, and I stared listlessly off into space, one last tear rolling down my face onto the floor as I lost consciousness.


	12. Vacation

_Chapter 12: Vacation_

I woke up in a bed. I didn't know what had happened or where I was, and I noticed with some trepidation my armor was off. Waiting a moment and determining there wasn't anyone in the bed with me, I slowly sat up, regretting it almost instantly as white-hot pain laced through my skull. I groaned and fell back. It felt as though I was hung over, but I knew that was impossible since intoxication was impossibly according to the game's coding.

Slowly this time, I sat myself against the headboard to the bed and opened my eyes. The room was dark, but I caught sight of a distinctly female figure in front of me, standing with arms crossed facing me. I pushed the pain to the back of my mind and sat straight, adopting a severe expression on my face as I looked into the face of the one across from me. "I suppose I should thank you for taking care of me." I said, my voice a weak rasp. "And I suppose I should apologize for being an ass."

The figure sighed before coming to my side and hugging me firmly. I tensed and tried to prevent myself from pushing them away, not entirely succeeding. The figure pulled away with a hurt expression on her face, and I cursed at myself. "Sorry. I just don't know if I can anymore," I broke down. "It's been two days but I don't know if I can feel happy again. I killed three people yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it." Tears filled my eyes and I covered my face.

I felt a hand come onto my shoulder, followed by a head. "It's alright. You're still my husband. I still love you, and I will continue to love you for the rest of our days. Even the best fall down sometimes." I was struck by her words, and I hesitated only a moment before grabbing her around the middle and clutching her tightly, sobbing loudly. "Shhhh, shhh," she soothed, "I'm here now. You can let go. You can let go." And so I did.

Some time later, I woke up again. It seemed I had fallen asleep after my breakdown, but I couldn't bring myself to be too upset about losing my composure. I moved to open my eyes and saw my wife was already awake. "Good afternoon?" I said, half-asking what time it was. She chuckled and kissed me. We lay there like that for a while, and after a few minutes I spoke again. "I can't survive without you. Please don't leave me again."

"I won't, Charlie. But I still don't understand why you assaulted the commander like that. Can you tell me?" I weighed my options. I needed to tell her, but I needed to make sure that she knew to stay quiet. Rika let me think while I deliberated.

"I can," I finally said, "But you cannot under _any _circumstances share this information with another. Do you understand?" Rika nodded and I continued, "Commander Heathcliff's real name is Akihiko Kayaba." My wife's eyes widened in shock and after a moment her face filled with rage. I recoiled in fear.

"Oh, it's not you, it's that bastard. How could he use the Knights like that?!" I shook my head. As the rage passed, I saw shock replace it on her face. "Shit, I pushed you away when you attacked him. Shit, Charlie, I'm so sorry. I should've known from your words beforehand there was a good reason, but you were so brutal I didn't know how to react and-" I cut her off with a kiss.

"It's alright, Rika. I understand, and I forgive you. You couldn't have known. Just know that if you do that again, I don't know what will happen to my mind. Somehow I don't think I'll recover from another loss like that. When the memories I had repressed came back, I –" I shuddered. "It just hurt so_ much_." I pulled her close to me for comfort. "Kirito and Asuna are together now, by the way. I wouldn't be surprised if they've married by now and moved to that shack on the 22nd floor Kirito's been waiting to buy."

"Oh, they are? We'll have to visit them as soon as we can! But first, I've got two days of activity to catch up on with a certain man in my life," Rika smirked at me naughtily, throwing a leg over my waist. I smiled broadly and laid back into the pillows on our bed, sighing. I don't know how I lived without the love of my wife. Every part of the love of my wife.

The next day (two days is a lot to catch up on when you don't fatigue as easily), Rika and I made our way to the 22nd floor hand in hand. My wife desired to simply go through the teleporter, but I decided to show off my ability instead, grabbing her and teleporting directly in front of their cabin. "What was that?" Rika asked in wonder.

"I managed to wrangle some concessions from Kayaba in exchange for my 'silence'," I said in reply, glancing at her in the corner of my eye. I knocked on the door with a genuine smile on my lips; the first in a long time. I stepped back for a moment and ran my finger across Rika's lips before locking mine with hers. She saw my idea and wrapped her legs around my waist, hopping up to me and pulling back slightly to meet my eyes.

I vaguely heard the door to the cabin open, and pushed my way inside, still kissing Rika. After we had made it into the cabin, I maneuvered us into a sitting position on a nearby armchair. My wife detached herself from me and curled herself in my lap. I finally laid eyes on the other inhabitants of the room. Kirito and Asuna were red-faced and in pajamas on the loveseat across from us, Kirito's arm around his wife's shoulder. "Well, good morning, lovebirds!" I exclaimed joyfully. "Have a good afternoon yesterday? And the evening before?" They blushed.

Kirito recovered first and smirked at me. "You were right, Rok. That _was _amazing." I let loose a deep belly laugh at his statement, especially when Asuna slapped him with a deeper blush on her face. "You're alright now, I take it?" I tried to calm myself down, eventually succeeding.

"Oddly enough, I have the pair of you to thank for that. Asuna, who do you think disposed of the guards the day before yesterday? I followed you in and saw everything that happened. I could have helped, but I wasn't exactly right in the head at the time. When you two kissed, it unlocked the blocks I had placed in my mind, revealing to me my emotion." They stared at me and waited for me to finish. "It hurt like hell, and I managed to teleport to my wife. I wasn't paying attention to where I was, it hurt so much. The next thing I remember I woke up to this one staring down at me." I jostled Rika a bit.

Asuna and Kirito looked at each other and nodded. It was kind of scary how they could communicate silently. It made me think about how Rika and I must look to the eyes of others. "Do you have an explanation for your actions the day of the duel?" they asked in tandem. I grimaced; I couldn't tell them. Thinking fast, I responded.

"If I told you the truth, it could easily result in the death of every person in this room. Liz and I are safe because of our silence, but a secret is best kept between two ears, especially one of such magnitude. I promise you this, though; you'll likely figure it out before the end of the game. That's the best I can do under the circumstances." I could tell they weren't happy about it, but they had no choice but to listen to me for now. I even had Rika's support.

Putting the matter behind us, the group of us socialized for a bit. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and Rika and I had to depart for the night. Bidding the other couple goodbye and promising to visit again soon, I teleported the pair of us back to our bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. My wife fell on top of me and I sighed in contentment. "I missed you, Rika," I said, pulling her close. She mumbled a response before promptly falling asleep in the crook of my shoulder. I soon followed, a smile on my face.

We made it through most of the week in a haze of activity. My wife took a week off from her shop and I took a week off from the front lines. I knew that left very little heavy support at the front, but I couldn't bring myself to care. My love was more important than my job, and I relished every second I spent with my wife. We met with Klein and Agil once or twice, and little Silica even came into the shop once to see us. She was a cute one, that was for sure.

At the end of the week, I received a message from Kirito. Rika received one from Asuna at nearly the same time. It was a summons, an urgent one, and we looked at each other before taking the others' hand and teleporting to the cabin in the woods. When we touched down onto the ground, we made our way inside to find the startling sight of a young child no more than 5 or 6 years old playing with Kirito. My gaze snapped to Asuna and I raised an eyebrow. "You two work fast." She blushed and slugged my upper arm.

"It wasn't us. We found her in the woods around here. She doesn't have any memory of anything that happened before this. We were going to take her to the Town of Beginnings to see if she recognized anyone down there and wanted to know if you would like to come with us." Dead serious now, I nodded.

"Does she have a name?" I asked.

"She says her name is Yui. She's also started calling us Mama and Papa." I smiled warmly. That was nice. "Yui, come over here and meet mama's best friends!" The young girl skipped over to us. "This here is Sarok," Asuna continued, pointing to me, "And this is Lisbeth."

"S-rok," Yui said, stumbling over the exact pronunciation of my name. "Lis-bith." Puzzled, Yui put a finger to her chin before brightening. "Uncle! Auntie!" I smiled broadly at her enthusiasm, turning to Liz and pulling her into my side.

"I guess our family just grew a bit bigger," I muttered in her ear. She smiled and kissed me on the cheek, laying her head on my shoulder. I spoke up, this time to Asuna. "When are we leaving?"

"Hmmmm. This afternoon, maybe?" she inquired to Kirito. He considered it for a moment before nodding. "Maybe right after lunch. Would the two of you like to stay for the morning?" Asuna looked hopeful, and glancing down at Yui I saw possibly the cutest face of desire for me to stay I had ever seen. I sighed and pulled Rika into my side.

"Alright then, I suppose we could drop our obviously busy schedule to help you guys," I smirked. "Sorry, Liz, guess we'll have to continue our usual activities some other time. Our friends here seem to need us." My wife giggled at my faux-arrogance and I grinned. "Come on then, when's lunch? We can't wait forever."

"Why, you…" Asuna trailed off and slugged me in the arm, storming into the kitchen to start cooking. I rolled my shoulder and rubbed my arm playfully.

"Damn, that took off a few points of health. Strong one, isn't she, Kirito?" I sat down next to him on the sofa and threw an arm around his shoulder. "Come on over here, Yui. Time to meet your extended family!" Yui laughed and skipped over to us, climbing into Kirito's lap with a heart-stopping smile that radiated warmth. "Now as your uncle, it's my job to corrupt you to my horrific American ideals. Where would you like to start?"

Kirito shrugged off my arm and glared at me, but his gaze held no heat. I idly noticed that Rika had sat down across from us with a soft smile on her face, as if she was looking forward to something in particular. I caught her eye for a moment and nodded imperceptibly, causing her to grin broadly at me. "Alright, so no corruption today. How do you like living with Kirito and Asuna, Yui? Are they treating you well? Haven't gone on any battles yet?" Yui giggled and I smiled.

Kirito was the one who responded to my question though. "We haven't really gone anywhere since we found her. We decided to message the two of you before we did anything about her. Thanks for your input and your help, by the way. It's appreciated."

I scoffed. "No need to thank me. It's what any good brother would do, after all." Kirito's eyes widened and I nodded. "Yes, that's right, I consider you to be a brother. I wasn't going to say anything, but then Yui here started calling me Uncle and I just had to mention it." I patted the girl on the head and turned to my wife. She was beaming at me.

Just then, Asuna came in bearing a platter of sandwiches. "Time for eats, guys and girls! Wait… what's happened now? You're all silent and smiling, and Sarok's not even trying to be humorous!"

"Oh, nothing, Asuna. I was just telling Kirito here that I consider him my brother, my nearest and dearest friend in this here reality. He's certainly close enough to me. Hey, say, that makes you some convoluted relation of sister to me, doesn't it Asuna?"

Asuna carefully put down her tray on the table and with shaking hands approached me. Worried about my safety, I quietly retreated further into the cushions in the couch, lamenting I wasn't wearing my armor. All of a sudden, though, Asuna attacked, tackling me to the floor in a hug.

"Wh –Wha – Whuh – What are you doing?" I asked, incredulous. "You _never _hug me. Was it something I said?" Asuna pulled back and kissed me on the cheek, causing me to blush brilliantly. I turned to Rika and found her laughing hysterically. Sighing, I cautiously returned Asuna's embrace, waiting a few moments before tapping her on the shoulder. "Uh, Asuna, don't people normally hug while standing?" Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say, and I found myself reeling from a slap to the face. I groaned. "What was that for, woman?!"

Asuna stood up and faced away from me until I had adjusted my clothes and followed her up. While I stretched, she surprised me with another hug, nearly toppling me again. "Seriously, what's up? You can tell me, sis. I'll keep your secrets." I was dead serious, and my voice reflected such.

"I've never had a brother before…" she started, and my eyes widened. "You're perfect for the position. I know you said you only came to Japan for university, but would you be willing to stay longer?" I smiled at my wife over her shoulder.

"Even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to leave now, sis. I have family here now, and a beautiful wife too. I wouldn't dare leave you guys." Asuna buried her face in my shoulder and I could feel her smiling. Soon, Liz had joined our embrace and Kirito stood slightly to the side with one arm on Asuna's shoulder, the other holding Yui to his chest. I waited a moment before speaking again. "Well, as much as this is an emotionally charged moment, I really would like to eat." Punctuating my statement, my stomach rumbled. The group shook with laughter and we took our seats around the table in various plush furniture.

It took us nearly an hour to eat our meal. The tone of our conversation was bright and hopeful as we told stories of times past. Halfway in, I sat back and reflected over the two years I had spent in the game. Over the time, I had fallen in love, married, met two new siblings, grew as a warrior and as a person, came to accept my madness, and learned what it was like to be human. It was a marvelous feeling knowing how much I accomplished.

Soon enough, we had to leave though, and the five of us headed to the teleporter in the nearest town. "Ready, guys?" I asked. "It's been a while since we were last here. I daresay the last time was at the start of the game nearly two years ago." Solemnly, they nodded, and we called out the coordinates of our destination, departing for the first floor.

It took a minute to transition between the two floors, but when we got there we stepped into what appeared to be an empty city. We knew it wasn't true; after all, it was said nearly a thousand non-combatants and children were said to live in the Town of Beginnings to await the end of the game. Oddly, when we alighted in the town's center, Yui cried out and a massive wave of static filled our vision. I collapsed to the ground in shock from the glitch and turned to see if my companions were alright. Once I had been assured everyone was alright, we carefully stood and got our bearings, looking for any sign of life. Puzzled, we made our way through the deserted streets. Asuna and Liz were asking Yui if she recognized anything while Kirito and I took point.

"Something's not right, here, Kirito," I stated softly, "I'm getting some bad vibes from this place." My brother nodded and we heightened our senses. Unfortunately the point was moot as rude yelling assaulted our ears. Steel crawled into my eyes when I heard the scream of a little girl, and I broke into a full-on sprint towards the origin of the disturbance, transporting myself through buildings when necessary.

When I stopped moving, I was at the entrance to an alleyway. Inside, there was a squad of Army soldiers crowding around a group of three children while another squad accosted their teacher. Their female teacher. I snarled and approached the group next to the woman first, assuming my family would take care of the children. When I reached the group, my legs were trailing wisps of dark fog while my eyes brimmed with barely concealed anger.

"What seems to be the problem here, boys?" I asked menacingly, cracking my knuckles and neck. The men stepped back and looked me up and down. A few made to step away from me, but their leader stepped forward challengingly instead.

"This wench won't pay her taxes, boy. Speaking of, have you paid yours? The Army needs money, and you look like a rich one. How much you gonna pay?" He took a step towards me and I blinked before simply thrusting my palm forward. The man flew straight back and slammed into the wall across from us, cracking the stone. I laughed and turned to the remainder of his squad.

"Well, any of you fools going to try what he did, or are you going to leave peacefully?" I paused while some of the man's men peeled his body from the wall. "I swear on my honor as a warrior on the front lines you won't come to harm as long as you leave this place. Of course, this is under the stipulation that you never return, but I digress." The squad made no move to leave and I sighed. "GO!" I yelled. Fearfully, the men retreated with as much dignity as they could muster.

Shaking my head, I turned to the woman. "You alright, ma'am? They didn't hurt you at all, did they?" The woman nodded, in shock, and I pulled her towards the rest of my group gently. "Come on then, where are you from? We'll walk you home. These are your kids, right?" Absently, she made a sound of acceptance. I tried to hand her off to my wife, but she clung to me like a second skin.

"Alright, suit yourself. Lead on to your home then." We followed the woman and her wards back to a church near the fringe of the city. Making our way inside, I stopped a moment to gaze sadly upon the sight that greeted me when I walked in. There were easily a hundred children from ages seven to twelve sitting and having lunch, all the while socializing.

I turned to Liz and frowned. "It's so sad, isn't it? So young, and stuck in this awful place." I sought my wife's hand while the woman made her way to a table in the back, leading us through the raucous crowd. When we reached the back, we sat in a circle while NPCs put bowls of what we assumed to be a soup of some kind in front of us. Liz neglected her chair in favor of my lap, and I contentedly rested my head along her arm as we waited for the woman to speak.

We didn't wait long. "My name is Sasha, and I run this orphanage. Thank you for saving us. I wasn't sure how I would have survived if you hadn't shown up." There was a pause as the newly-identified Sasha laid eyes on Yui. "Who's this? I didn't know there were children this young any higher than this floor." Kirito and Asuna hesitated and I rubbed my face along my wife's arm happily, not unlike a cat.

Liz slapped me lightly as our friends seemed to have a silent debate on who would speak first. After a moment, it seemed Kirito lost the duel, and he sighed. "Truthfully, we were hoping you would be able to tell us. We found her wandering in a forest on the 22nd floor and came down here to see if she had somehow wandered off, but we haven't seen anyone. What's up?" Sasha's face darkened and I stopped harassing Liz.

"The Army," Sasha spat, her face twisted into a snarl, "About a month ago they started getting obnoxious and oppressive. No one wants to be caught on the streets alone by them, so no one ever leaves. It's terrible the things that that _Kibaou _player gets away with in his _mighty_ position nowadays." I frowned; it had been a long time indeed since I had heard that name, and I wasn't too pleased at the venom that came with it.

"Figures he'd be the one behind this. I ought to do something about him after we finish up with Yui here, shouldn't I guys?" I said, earning nods from my friends. "Anyway, Sasha, do you know if there are any other orphanages around here that would recognize Yui?" The bespectacled woman shook her head sadly.

"This is the only orphanage in the town, sorry. I can ask around if you would like, but it will be slow." We sighed. It seemed we wouldn't be getting answers today. However, just as we were about to leave, a knock sounded on the door to the church.

"I'll get it!" Kirito called. I cursed that he had beaten me to it, but I currently had a fleshy weight on my lap, so I couldn't exactly get up from where I was. My friend practically skipped to the door and threw it open, only to stop still for a moment and slam it shut again.

"Who was it, Kirito?" Asuna asked.

"Oh, it was no one. Just some peddler or such." Kirito looked dodgy and I narrowed my eyes, calmly depositing my wife in the seat next to me and shoving my friend out of the way. I opened the door to a fist poised to knock again. Unfortunately for me, the fist was mid-movement and it couldn't seem to stop itself from descending into my face.

"Oh, _fuck_," I exclaimed softly. "That was a thing." The fist's owner, having realized by now what had happened, stepped back and put their hands over their mouth. I lifted my head to get a clearer view of who had accidentally hit me and was shocked to see a woman in army uniform standing in front of me, looking like she had just been crying. Kirito stepped forward and made to antagonize her but I stopped him with a hand. "It's alright. She's safe. You there," I said, nodding towards the unknown, "Come on in and have a seat. We have soup for you."

I guided the woman in and sat her in my now vacated seat, opting to stand against a nearby wall and observe. "You've been crying," I noted softly. "What's your name? What's wrong, more importantly?" The woman's eyes widened at my observation and her gaze snapped to mine before quickly looking away after noticing the darkness around my figure. She looked down at her hands, which were curled in her lap.

"M – My name is Yulier. I am – was – a leading officer in the Army. I'm here because I heard that some front liners were down here and I need some help. It's Kibaou – he's taken our leader, Tinker, and left him under the Black Iron Castle. Please help me get him back! Please…" she trailed off and Liz pulled her into a hug, looking at me pleadingly. I nodded simply, as if it weren't even a question.

"Of course we'll help, Yulier. Can you tell us any more about Tinker and Kibaou?" Asuna asked. I met Kirito's eyes solemnly. We were all hoping never to hear the name Kibaou again, but it seemed that wasn't to be. I nodded slightly, acquiescing to Kirito's silent request to deal with Kibaou once this was over.

"A – After the 74th floor was cleared, Kibaou made a power play in the Army. We had discovered very early on that as more and more floors were cleared in the upper levels, a mysterious dungeon started to open up underneath our HQ, the Black Iron Castle. Kibaou had started disappearing more frequently and for longer into the dungeon. Tinker and I tried to stop him by demoting him and stripping him of power, but he – he outthought Tinker and led him into the depths. It's been three days and I still haven't heard from him. Kibaou's taken control of all our forces in Tinker's absence. That's why the Army's been so oppressive recently."

Yulier paused for a few moments and took a deep breath before continuing. "Please help me rescue Tinker. He's all I have in this world, and I don't know how to handle life without him. I'm not a high enough level to go down there by myself, that's why I came to you guys. I can take you to the dungeon pretty easily, but there's still Kibaou to worry about. He might try to stop us. Can you do anything about that?" I thought for a moment and hummed.

"I might be able to cook something up. Where's his room in the Castle? I'm going to pay him a bit of a visit to… discourage him from being such a fucking dick from now on… Making fun of other players is one thing, but by condemning someone in cold blood he crossed the one line I promised myself and Liz I would never go near." My friends looked at me with respect for my comments, and I looked at them the same way. "Take Kirito, Asuna, and Liz to the entrance. I'll meet you there. Yui, are you alright with staying here?"

Yui pondered only a moment before shaking her head. "Mama, Papa, Uncle, I wanna go with you! I can't stay here all alone, please let me come, please!" The girl stared into Asuna's eyes and I grimaced, seeing Asuna's face soften in defeat.

"Fine then, Yui, but stay with your Auntie Liz, alright? We don't want anything to happen to you while we're fighting." I turned to Yulier.

"His room's on the highest floor of the castle, and he's most secure while there. How the hell are you going to get up there without either him escaping or a guard setting off the alarm?" I grinned devilishly.

"You let me worry about that. You, on the other hand, need to get moving if you want to catch up to Tinker. I'll teleport to Kirito when I'm finished intimidating your bastard of a general." Without another word, I turned and left, waiting until I was out of sight before donning my full armor and triggering the invisibility. "Teleport! Kibaou!" I commanded the system, not bothering with a menu.

When I rematerialized, I found myself with Kibaou in his office. Oddly enough, little Silica was there as well, looking glum and wearing a suspicious-looking white dress. I turned my gaze upon the corner and narrowed my eyes when I saw a chained and caged Pina. I fought the urge to growl in my throat when Kibaou opened his mouth to speak.

"I see you've come to a decision, my sweet," the man smirked, lecherously. "Your hand in marriage if you ever want to have your _precious _dragon back. We both win, after all. You get a powerful and handsome husband, while I get that treasure you've been hiding from me and a cute, submissive, young – " At this he licked his lips, " – girl to play with." Silica shuddered in revulsion as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Unconsciously, I started shaking in rage, my anger coalescing into invisible wisps of black around me. I felt myself lift off the ground as my wings involuntarily materialized. Noticing this, I took a deep breath and controlled myself, letting the appendages sink back into my skin and instead concentrating my aura about the front of my body. I silently made myself visible once more, coming into existence right behind Silica.

Upon catching sight of me, Kibaou fell out of his seat in terror and turned white. I laughed underneath my helmet, drinking in the fear he displayed. "I see you recognize me, _Kibaou. _Yes, I know who you are. You're an Army General, you're the most powerful man below Floor 20. Hell, I think your name ha even reached the front lines!" The man cautiously stood, regaining his composure as he misinterpreted my words.

"T – Then you're here to pledge your allegiance to the cause?" he asked, becoming excited. I snorted, and his face fell. I circled around his desk and pushed him against the wall with one hand.

"Of course not, you _fucking piece of SHIT!_ Why the _FUCK _would I join someone as vile and corrupt as you?! You're a fucking _murderer, _and all you've succeeded in doing is Pissing. Me. OFF!" I screamed into his face. "Now, I was only going to come intimidate you, but then I saw you subjugating and exploiting Silica here, who I consider to be a _LITTLE SISTER, _to marry your perverted ass! So you know what? Now I'll not only intimidate you; I'll humiliate you, and I'll destroy everything you stand for. You'll only wish you were dead after I finish with you." I sighed, throwing him to the ground and wrenching off my helmet.

Kibaou's eyes widened further when he saw my face, and I snarled. "Yes, yes, it's me, the Demon, the Spider, the Assassin, the Devil. I know what they call me, fool. I'm the one who started those rumors. If it protects my family, I'm willing to even be feared if it means they're safe." I spat on him and turned to Silica, smiling softly. "Hey Sili, it's me, Rok. I've come to save you sis, but first I wanted to make sure you're alright before I deal with this moron."

Rather unexpectedly, the girl jumped over the desk and into my arms, sobbing all the way. "I'm so glad you're here, Big Brother. I'm so glad you came to save me. Will you take me home after this?" she looked into my eyes with a hopeful but teary gaze, and I smiled.

"Of course I will, sis. You want to live with my wife and I once this all blows over?" she nodded frantically and I gestured for her to stand over with Pina until I was done with Kibaou, who had somewhat regained his bearings and was attempting to set off an alarm. "Come on, you," I snarled, pulling him upright roughly and grabbing Silica and Pina. "You're coming with us for the time being." With that, I teleported to the 74th floor dungeon, leaving Kibaou in the safe area before the boss room and teleporting out again.

When I reappeared with Silica in tow, we were at Agil's shop. I walked in and noticed Agil bartering with a customer, but shooed the player away with a glare. "Hey, what the hell was that for, Rok? I was doing business!" I simply handed over Silica and Pina.

"My sister here was about to be unlawfully wed to Kibaou, who wanted to take advantage of her. I need you to take care of her until I get back. Could you do that, Agil? I really need someone to help, and after I finish with the pervert I'll be heading to the first floor again for some unfinished business of mine." Agil nodded and I stepped back preparing to leave.

"Sarok, one thing before you go." Agil stopped me and I looked back at him. "Take this with you." He tossed me an item and I caught it, staring inquisitively. "I invented it. It's a communicator. There are two in there, and once you give to other half to someone you'll always be able to see if they're safe. Just tap the top button to initiate the call and the bottom one to end it." I smiled at my friend.

"Thanks, Agil. It's much appreciated. And Sili? I'll be right back, just as soon as I deal with the pervert, kay?" The girl nodded and I turned away from them, my face twisting into a severe frown as I teleported to the area I had left Kibaou. When I got there, the fool attempted to tackle me, but I just stepped out of the way and slammed the palm of my hand into his back, forcing him into the ground just outside of the area.

I wondered for a moment if it would be easier to just leave him in the dungeon, but reconsidered after only a moment when I remembered my boundaries. Grumbling, I took hold of the coward's upper arm and threw him behind me into a wall. He slid to the ground in a heap with tears in his eyes and I opened my mouth to speak. "I should kill you where you stand," I said, my eyes dancing with barely restrained fury.

"P – P – P – Please spare me, sir! I – I can give you a – anything you desire! Money, girls, power!" I snorted and hoisted him by the lapels of his shirt to stare him in the eyes. A minute passed and I let go of him, laughing madly into the air.

"Y – You have _nothing _I could _ever _desire, Kibaou," I said, my laughter calming in the face of what I had to do. "Just so you know, if you step out of line and into my sights once more, you'll die. I let you off once already for hurting Kirito, but now – _now _you've used up that second chance. When I return you to your office, you _will _step down and submit yourself to prison time until I return with Tinker. Yes, I know about your 'secret' training grounds. Do you understand me?" Kibaou nodded glumly and I grinned broadly. "Good. Grab my arm." Once he had, I transported us out of the dungeon in a flurry of polygons.

Unfortunately for the fool with me, I had lied. Instead of returning him to his office, I took him straight to a prison cell and dropped him before heading off to meet Yulier and my family. It was time for a good old-fashioned rescue operation.


	13. Rescue

_Chapter 13: Rescue_

When I regained my vision upon alighting next to Liz, I found the rest of the group staring at me incredulously. "What took you so long, Rok?" Kirito asked, curious. "We've been waiting ten minutes." I blushed slightly and rubbed the back of my head.

"I, uh, I got a bit carried away when I found him about to force Silica to marry him. Don't worry, he isn't dead, just in prison." Kirito's eyes hardened at the perceived slight against our mutual friend while the others looked on in confusion. "Oh, and Liz, that reminds me. I kind of offered Silica a place to stay with us. She's like a sister to me, so please don't kill me for it."

Embarrassed, I turned away from the group and headed into the Castle basement with quick steps, not wanting to face them for the moment. I didn't know why, but for the first time I was nervous about my emotions in front of them. Once I had reached the doors into the main dungeon, however, I shrugged off any timidity I had been feeling and waited for my friends to catch up, taking the time to check my armor and re-equip my dagger. When they got there, I turned with a grim smile and nodded to each of them before spinning and throwing open the gates with both arms. It was time to let the fun begin.

The first enemies we encountered were easy enough to beat. They were simple humanoid-seeming frogs, and Kirito and I made short work of them. After the way was cleared, we looked through our inventories for items and found dozens of frog legs, which were listed as a B-Class cooking ingredient. Grinning at each other, we each held a leg and stowed the rest in our safe, making our way to Asuna. "Hey there, Asuna, think you could make us up some of this when we go back up?" I said, brandishing my leg in front of me while Kirito did the same.

Asuna screamed and I laughed. She knocked the appendages out of our hands, allowing me to fetch the rest of the offensive items, causing her to squeal in rage and attack me in an attempt to get rid of them as fast as possible. The entire time she did so I was laughing uproariously, and I saw Kirito mimic me even as he came under his wife's assault.

When she finished taking apart the item drops from the frogs, Asuna was panting in front of us. I threw an arm around Kirito's shoulder and pumped his fist with my own. "I consider that a job well done, don't you, Kirito?" He nodded with a bright grin and I continued. "We should probably get going, shouldn't we?" Once again, he nodded and we turned to continue into the dungeon.

We didn't get a single step into the next hall before Yui spoke up. "You smiled!" We turned in confusion and discovered Yulier staring at Yui with a perplexed look on her face. "That's the first time you've smiled since we've seen you!" I approached the pair and picked up Yui in my arms. "See, Uncle? She's doing it again!" I chuckled, handing off my surrogate niece to her mother and going out on a limb by hugging a shocked Yulier.

"A peculiar family we have here, isn't it Yulier? It's no wonder you smiled; no one can really be sad around my niece." Stepping back, I noted the realization on our new friend's face and turned to move on at last. "Come on then, guys! We haven't much time before dark and I want to rescue Tinker so the two lovebirds can reunite!"

The group laughed at my prod and we finally descended deeper into the labyrinth, fighting relatively easy mobs until we came to a large open doorway. I gazed at the path ahead warily; I didn't trust the dark corridor for whatever reason. Unfortunately for my instincts, Yulier noticed at the end of the tunnel that there was a safe area. Worse for me, she noticed a figure inside it and screamed. "Tinker!" she bellowed, sprinting mindlessly toward him.

"Dammit," I cursed, even as Tinker tried to warn Yulier of the danger. "I was right again. Why doesn't anybody listen to me?" I lamented as I rushed towards the crazy woman, knocking her off her feet in a leaping tackle as a huge scythe passed through where I used to be. "Of course it's a scythe. It's always a fucking scythe." A silhouette crossed the corridor with lightning speed and coalesced into a dark form at the end of the tunnel.

"Liz, Yulier, take Yui and run to the safe area! Asuna, Sarok and I will take care of the boss!" Kirito barked. Luckily, our friends listened and dove into the safe area. As the figure in the darkness approached, I saw Kirito activate his identification skill and frown in consternation. "Guys, I've maxed my skill as high as possible at my level and can't get even a name from this monstrosity. It's at least ten levels above us at any rate!" I grimaced; a difficult battle was _not _what we needed right now.

The boss took our moment of hesitation to push forward into the light, causing us to step back in shock at its appearance. The _thing _in front of us was only a skeleton, the skull covered in a dark purple robe and the eye sockets burning red with impotent fury as its massive scythe twirled mindlessly in one bony hand. "Fuck." I said simply, summing up our situation. The boss cackled as its four health bars materialized.

As soon as the introductions finished, the Skull Fucker, as I called it, brought its weapon down directly onto Kirito's crossed blades, stopping only a moment before thrusting its second hand into my friends gut. It followed through with the punch and slammed Kirito into the ceiling, letting him fall into the floor with a sickening crunch. My eyes flashed even as Asuna cried out in worry and tried to assault the beast with her rapier. Within a second, she was incapacitated as well, leaving only me to make an attempt.

Sighing and seeing no choice, I activated Devil Deal and let my true form become visible. With my right arm enshrouded by the Dark Blade and my left holding Deep Faith in a reverse grip, I rushed at the Fucker and knocked its scythe out of the way, insta-porting up to the Skull and slamming Faith into it, flipping up and over and cutting down the entire torso with the Dark Blade.

When I hit the ground, I looked back expecting to see the Fucker down for the count, but was given no time to react as a massive fist slammed into me and knocked my skill off as I flew down the corridor past the safe room and right into the damn boss as it used the shadows to travel around me and stop my momentum with its weapon, hitting me straight up and bringing the blade directly into my spine to hurl me into the ground.

Groaning, I checked my health and was shocked to see myself below a hundred hit points. As the boss made to strike a final blow against me, I gazed at my wife with a single tear rolling down my cheek. "I'm sorry," I whispered as I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable death blow. Oddly enough, though, it never came, and I opened my eyes cautiously, before widening them in shock.

In front of me stood Yui, and she was glowing with the purple of a force field. I knew instantly that only one thing could glow like she did at that moment – an Immortal Object. I turned to either side and saw Kirito and Asuna staring with blank expressions as the girl turned to us. "Kirito. Asuna. Sarok. It's alright. I remember everything now." That was the end of her statement, and Yui began floating in the air until she was level with the Fucker.

Once in position, my apparently system-generated niece formed a truly massive sword of fire in front of her and gestured for it to attack the boss. The Skull Fucker found all its attacks ineffective as Yui's sword tore through it, enveloping it in a ball of blazing flame and compressing the ball until only a single blue polygon remained. Yui floated back down to the ground and made her way back into Liz's waiting arms.

Groaning, I applied a health potion and limped into the safe area, meeting Liz's tear-filled eyes and making for a slab of rock nearby to rest. Kirito and Asuna followed me, taking Yui and ending up on the far wall of the square-shaped room. My wife, now unburdened, came up to me and slapped me hard. "Don't you _ever _do that to me again, do you hear me? I swear, I'll kill you myself before I watch you almost die to some stupid _mob._" Liz trailed off and wrapped me in a tight embrace sobbing.

"Shh, it's alright love, I'm alright. We have Yui to thank for that." Speaking of, I carefully disentangled from my wife and led her by the waist to where my friends and their daughter were gathered.

"Uncle. Aunt. I think it's time I explained a few things. I'm not human," Yui started with an eerily calm voice. "I was created with the purpose of psychological counseling to players, an AI to monitor the mental and emotional status of everyone. However, at the start of the game, Cardinal stopped me from interfering for whatever reason, trapping me in a pocket of code. I could only watch helplessly as despair overtook society and all traces of happiness disappeared."

"It was only recently that I managed to escape my prison. I had seen two particular players that were happier than anyone I had ever met in the game. That was you and Mommy, Daddy. I also saw your brother and sister, Uncle and Auntie. See, I've only ever wanted to see you, Daddy. I've wanted to meet you for so long…" Yui trailed off as tears dripped down her cheeks and disappeared before they hit the ground.

Asuna didn't hesitate and wrapped her daughter in a hug. "It's alright, we're together now. And let me say, you're completely human, Yui. You feel everything that we do, and you surely have your own desires as demonstrated by your ability to save us just now. What do you want now?" Kirito asked.

Yui waited a moment before answering. "I want to stay with you and Mommy forever, Daddy." Kirito couldn't help himself this time and embraced his family. I put a hand on his shoulder in support and hugged my wife to me with a soft smile.

"We can't. It's too late," Yui said with grave finality. "I have to go now. I used Cardinal to destroy that monster, and now it knows I'm here. It will see me as a hostile object and delete me until nothing remains." Asuna burst into new tears and I snarled in distaste. "You can't save me."

"Like hell I can't!" I spat, turning to what I had identified as a developer console in the game and pulling up the login screen. Yui's credentials had already been wiped, so I logged in with my temporary info from which my teleporting ability stemmed. I navigated the menus with ease until I found Yui's program, slamming my fist into the wall when I saw her start disappearing, her face still covered in shock at my actions.

I furiously typed code into the console in a desperate attempt to save Yui, but all I managed to do was create a copy and put it into an item. "Dammit, dammit, dammit," I chorused as sweat dripped down my brow. I was running out of time, and if I wasn't quick about things I would be found too. "There! Got it!" I cried as a necklace materialized in my hand. I turned to my friends and approached Asuna, handing her the item.

"Is this…" she trailed off when she saw the name of the jewelry. Yui's Heart, it read. I nodded.

"That's an exact copy of Yui the moment before she was deleted. Take good care of it, I'll try and restore her once we get out of this mess, alright?" Asuna let tears fall again, this time in relief, and she put on the necklace hurriedly before rushing to hug me. Hard, might I add, and she knocked me to the ground spectacularly. Kirito came over once we had gotten up and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you," he said before turning to the console in confusion. "But whose login did you use?" I paled; this would be hard to explain.

"I – uh, that is to say – I, uh, used my own." All eyes in the room turned to me instantly. "Don't worry, I'm not a GM or anything, I just… uh… how should I say… scared one into giving me limited power over the system, enough to make it more livable to everyone." I winced when Kirito's eyes narrowed.

"What the living _fuck _do you mean by that, Sarok?" he asked suspiciously and angrily. "You know as well as anyone there's only _one _GM in this godforsaken game." I winced further and took a nervous step back. "I see. How long have you been talking to our esteemed leader _Kayaba?_" I recoiled.

"I – It's not like that, Kirito? You know it isn't! He threatened you if I wouldn't keep my silence even after I scared him into granting me access! I've only spoken with him once, and it wasn't a very friendly conversation!"

"_I don't care._" Kirito's words were laced with acidic venom. I backed up to the wall and looked for a way out of my situation before alighting my eyes on Asuna. She was looking at me with such a profound look of betrayal that I forgot myself and left in a teleport, leaving the floor and heading back to Agil's shop. It was the only place where people would understand me.

I stumbled through the door and fell to the floor in a heap of tears, sobbing into the wood even as I heard Agil's latest customer leave hurriedly and the man himself rush to my side. "What's wrong, Sarok?" he asked in his deep voice. I only sobbed harder; if only he knew what I had done. "I've never seen you like this man, please tell me what's up." I was inconsolable though, and Agil sighed. "Look, I'm going to go get Silica. You wait here, alright?" I managed a nod and calmed myself to the point of a blank stare at my legs, having curled into the fetal position.

"Brother? What's wrong? Agil said you needed my help and I–" my adopted sister stopped talking when she saw my prone and unmoving form. Wisely, she came and wrapped me in a hug.

"I messed up, Sili. Now, Kirito and Asuna hate me, and Liz probably isn't too happy with me either. I made a big mistake in my handling of a situation, and now they know my most hidden secret. I can't face them now they know; I just can't."

"Then apologize," Silica suggested. "If they don't understand, that's their fault, and you can only go so far to rebuild your bridges without their help on the other side." The girl's words struck a chord in me with their wisdom. "First things first, though. Call your wife over here. She's more important than your friends."

Silently, I sat up, still being hugged, and numbly opened a menu. Pulling up Liz's name, I sent her a note saying to meet me in Agil's shop and burrowed myself into Silica's shoulder. "Thanks, Sili. You're a lifesaver." The girl laughed.

"You got over that quickly, didn't you?" Agil had come back downstairs and was staring at me in amusement. "You're just a roller coaster of emotion, aren't you Rok? What's next on your list, burning passion or thundering excitement?" I rolled my eyes at the shopkeeper's tone. I knew too well my tendency to jump rapidly between moods. It was annoying, but I had learned to live with it.

"Shut up, Mr. Exorbitant Prices. I'm just going to wait right here for my wife to get here. Speaking of, you got any flowers or chocolate or something in that inventory of yours? And don't you dare try and haggle me right now…" I stopped speaking when a furious-looking Lisbeth stormed through the door to the shop, causing Agil to leave the room hurriedly as the temperature increased drastically.

My wife marched straight up to where I was on the floor and hoisted me up by the lapels of my cloak, ignoring the young girl who until then had been hugging me. When my face was mostly level with hers, I braced myself for my inevitable death, but all I felt was her lips on mine. Confused, I internally shrugged as Liz began to get more frenzied, getting myself into it. I supposed that kissing was better than killing.

After some interminable amount of time for which I was glad breathing was an optional feature of the game, Liz and I broke apart. "What was that?" I asked softly, leaning my forehead against hers. "I feel like I'm missing something here. Feel like telling me what's got you so worked up?"

"Oh, it's just our esteemed _friends. _After you left, I – hmmm, I guess I should just start at the beginning…"

**Flashback (From Rika POV) **

_ I watched helplessly as my husband disappeared into thin air. Screaming in frustration, I turned to Asuna and Kirito, who were staring at the spot where he'd been blankly. "Oh for _fuck's _sake guys, did you _really _have to do that AGAIN?! I can't believe you just drove him away so brilliantly!" I stormed up to Kirito and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground with the force. Unsurprisingly, he stared at me in shock. "Don't you think Rok would tell you the damn truth about something so serious if he could?!" I was yelling, but he deserved it._

_ I turned on Asuna then. "And _you. You. _My husband _saved _your daughter's life, and you repaid him with contempt for how he succeeded? You're no better than Kayaba himself, and right now I'm pretty _fucking _ashamed to know you. Rok considered both of you to be family, and you've so utterly betrayed him with your thoughtlessness that he's gone and withdrawn himself again._

_ I stepped back and panted in rage. "You two disgust me. If you're going to have friends like Rok, you've got to treat them right. I've known about the deal with Kayaba pretty much since it happened. You remember the time a while back that he completely broke off contact? Yeah, that's why. I'd like to think I've learned since then, but you're no better than you were before, are you?"_

_ Kirito tried to reply to me, "B – But we were only looking out for you! He could have been plotting with Kayaba since long before that!" That was the wrong move, Kirito. Now you've only gone and made me angrier at the lot of you. I stormed up to him and punched his face to the floor before straddling his chest and pounding him further in. Unfortunately, before I could truly burn off my rage I found myself pulled forcefully off him by a hysterical Asuna._

_ "You're right, Liz. What am I going to do?" I noticed the definitive singular pronoun and grinned evilly. Kirito would get what was coming for that comment soon enough._

_ "Well first things first, control that husband of yours while I go find mine. Next time, I'll try to punch him where it really hurts…" I stopped speaking for a moment when I received a message. "That's gotta be him now. I should run. Asuna," I waited for her to look at me, "He'll forgive you soon enough. Just… be careful, alright?" She nodded and I turned to leave. I waved to Tinker and Yulier in the corner before teleporting to the location specified by my husband. It was time to try something different…_

**Flashback End**

I was dumbfounded by what I had heard. I couldn't believe that my own wife, my beloved Rika, had so thoroughly trounced Kirito. Without really noticing, I started chuckling at the picture of her beating my friend to a pulp in a white room. When I had stopped a minute later, I kissed her again, this time being quick about it. "Thanks for that. Different is right, and I'm glad you did. Got me right out from the last dregs of mopeyness." My wife raised an eyebrow at my choice of words.

"The _last _dregs, Rok? Who helped you with the first few?" I grinned and gestured for Silica to come forward. The girl was blushing a deep scarlet at witnessing our couple-time, and I laughed outright.

"Silica, as you've probably guessed this is my wife, the beautiful Lisbeth the Blacksmith. Liz, this is Silica, a Beast Tamer and my adopted little sister!" I made introductions with a wacky grin. "Now, time for cake, right? No? Ah, damn, it's always a lie anyways…" I trailed off as two people I was _not _looking forward to seeing walked through the door. Lo and behold, Kirito stood with his head down while Asuna approached us cautiously. I sighed. "Of course. I suppose you've set this up too then, Liz?" She shook her head in mute shock and I gently disengaged from her to face the newcomers.

"Here to berate me some more?" I said sarcastically. Asuna winced and Kirito shuffled his feet. I looked expectantly at them.

Asuna spoke up first. "I wanted to apologize for how I treated you down there, Sarok. I also wanted to thank you for saving Yui, even with your potentially unscrupulous way of doing so. So thanks, and sorry for not trusting you. I don't really have an excuse for my behavior." I nodded in the affirmative; I was going to wait for my other friend to speak his part before acting.

We stood for a few minutes before I grew impatient. "Well, Swordsman? Have anything to say to me?" He was silent, and I snorted. "Come back to me when you aren't a mute. I can tell just by looking at you that you don't trust me. No need for me to forgive the two of you until you _both _apologize _together. _Asuna, I accept your apology for your individual person, but until my dear brother over there pulls his head out of your arse you won't be seeing much of me."

Ignoring Kirito's wide eyes at my mention of his being my brother in this world, I grabbed hold of both Silica and Lisbeth and transported us directly home. When we arrived, Liz tried to stop me from moving away, but I turned angrily. "Why am I such a fucking _coward?! _I am _so fucking afraid _that they'll betray me again that I refused to accept them! Damn fucking shite!" A shocked Lisbeth and Silica watched, shocked, as I went on a tirade against myself.

"Charlie?" The sound of my real name snapped me out of my rage, and I collapsed against a nearby wall with a groan.

"Sorry you guys had to see that. I'll do better next time, I promise. It'll just take me a few weeks to get over it and face them. Until then, I'll help with the front lines in the mornings, work here in the afternoons, and we can have some family time in the evenings. Sound good to you two?" They nodded, and I smiled. I was well on the path to recovery and rescue.


	14. Hell Calls Forth Its Demons

_Chapter 14: Hell Calls Forth Its Demons_

It had been three weeks since I had separated from Kirito and Asuna, and I had only seen them in passing at raids on the 75th floor as we grinded for experience and items. Since then, I had picked up a shroud to cover the torso of my armor that enhanced my speed along with an upgrade to my boots that allowed a significant increase in my Acrobatics skill.

On the family front, I had spent a ton of quality time with my wife and sister, getting to know them as well as they knew me. We gave up information about our real lives and histories, and I found I was actually fairly close to their homes in my university. We had our moments, but we were only human. Nothing could ever change that, and I quickly found myself falling into a rhythm.

Unfortunately, none of it was to last. I received a message from Kayaba during dinner on a Tuesday night. It read that he was planning to assault the 75th floor boss with everyone he could gather in a few days and wanted me to join. From the tone of the message, I gathered it would be a difficult fight, and I picked up on the hidden message. He was going to reveal his identity to the players in the party. "The bastard…" I muttered.

"What is it, Charlie?" Rika asked me, worried at what could have made me change moods so quickly. "Is it Kayaba?"

I sighed. Silica, or Keiko as we had begun calling her, lay a hand over mine. I smiled at her. It was the little things that mattered, and at this point we really truly acted as a brother and sister. "Yeah. We're going to assault the 75th floor in about five days or so. He's bringing everyone with a strong presence in the game, and I heard even Argo will be there. What's more, he's planning on revealing himself." My words struck my companions silent as they processed the information.

"H –He's going to show everyone his persona? What could he be thinking?" Keiko was shocked that Kayaba would even consider such a thing. We had told her about Heathcliff's relationship with Kayaba a few days prior, and I had no doubt of his intentions.

I sighed again and ran my hands through what little hair I had, stroking the black veins I had on my face in thought. That was a bad habit I had developed recently since I couldn't seem to grow facial hair… "I think he's bored, sis. I think he's exhausted his amusement with us and now he wants to end the game. He'll probably have Kirito fight him. Well, he'll try to have Kirito fight him. I won't be too amiable to that idea."

"I hope you know what you're doing, husband. I can't bear the thought of losing you to that madman."

I chuckled. "Don't worry, Rika, just remember the gift I gave you a while back and everything will be fine. Well, everything should go according to plan anyway." I stood and stretched. "Hey, what do you guys say to a vacation to the 22nd floor? I think it's time to rebuild some bridges with the locals." My family grinned broadly at me and I returned their smiles with one of my own. I couldn't wait to see the look on Kirito's face when I showed up in his home.

The next day, we dressed in civilian clothing and I teleported us to Kirito's cabin. It was early in the morning, so I doubted that he or Asuna was awake yet, so I temporarily equipped my armor so I could sneak in and play a joke on them; my first in three and a half weeks. I crept into their room and noted with a smile there was just enough room on their bed for me to curl up between them; I did just that, being especially careful not to jostle either them or the bed in the process.

Once I had settled into my position, I smacked my lips loudly and tossed my body overtop of Asuna's. She woke with a shriek and summarily startled Kirito onto the fall. I laughed uproariously at their faces. They simply couldn't believe I was actually there, and I grinned at them. "Wakey wakey, lovers! It's time to face the world!" Asuna glared at me; Kirito still hadn't processed my presence.

Asuna wearily checked the clock. "What the hell, Rok! It's only six o'clock!" I grinned wider. I knew perfectly well what time it was. "Ugh. I didn't get much sleep."

I took the opportunity offered me with her comment. "Hmm, were you too busy with… should I say… _other _activities to sleep?" I waggled my eyebrows; a terrifying sight on someone with my appearance. Asuna threw a pillow at me, blushing furiously. I caught it and lobbed it back, turning to Kirito. "You know, I'm done waiting for your lazy ass. Get over here, bro."

Stunned, Kirito only brought himself to a sitting position, still staring in wonder. I face palmed; shaking my head as I strode over to his position on the floor, I hauled him up and drew him into a hug. "Good to see you, bro. Sorry for my distance the last few weeks."

It seemed my brother had finally regained his senses, apologizing almost instantly. "No, it's me who's sorry, Rok. I was out of line back there all those days ago, and I've been meaning to come apologize but I've been so – so – so _busy,_" he finished in a whisper, winking at me. I snickered; he had finally picked up on the innuendo from me. I had finally corrupted his humor.

"Anyway, what are you doing here, Rok? This isn't a social call, is it?" I laughed internally; I was about to prove all those classic movie script clichés wrong with my next statement.

"Actually, it is social. I brought the family along for a much needed vacation. Hope you won't mind us taking up your guest rooms for the next few days.

_Us?_ I saw Kirito and Asuna mouth to each other. Rika and Keiko took this moment to slip in unnoticed. "Hey Kirito! Hey Asuna!" they cried in unison. They had developed a habit of doing that that frankly scared the shit out of me. "Nice to see you again!" My most recently minted family swiveled their heads to me.

"T –T –There are _two _of them?! Rok, why is Silica with you?" I grinned at Asuna's question.

"Why, I should think that would be obvious, Asuna dear! Silica here," I slapped my hands on her shoulders and smiled down at her, "is my adopted sister. She's been living with Liz and me since the accident."

They nodded in understanding and we soon found ourselves speaking of trivial things. After moving into our room, the three of us followed our friends (family, now, I reminded myself) into the forest towards the lake. It seemed that Kirito had taken up fishing as a hobby.

When we entered the clearing, here was an older man sitting on the edge of the dock. "Yo, Nishida," Kirito greeted familiarly, and my eyes widened.

"Wait, Nishida? You're _the _Nishida?" I laughed. The man looked at me strangely.

"You've heard of me, son?" he asked, curious as to where I knew him from.

"Well, you interviewed me for a position at Argus before all this started. I was looking for an internship for some experience, and you said to meet you in the game after my interview. However, when all this started I forgot about you!"

Nishida's face dawned with revelation. "Oh yeah, you're that American student! Nice to see you, man! Well, relatively speaking, anyway." I laughed, and we quickly got to talking about all sorts of topics regarding programming.

At the end of our day, I received another message from Kayaba. _Two days, _was all it said. I sighed and climbed into bed with Liz. It was only a matter of time now.

The next day and a half passed in a blur. Kirito pulled up some deep-sea monstrosity from the lake in Nishida's fishing competition, and Asuna had killed the land fish before too much destruction had been caused by it. That night, I had lain awake in bed, afraid of what would come the next day, but soon found myself falling asleep in my wife's arms.

Halfway through our day, Kirito, Asuna, and I received simultaneous messages. I sighed and met Rika's eyes, transitioning quickly to Keiko's. I nodded at each of them; Kirito and Asuna said nothing as they geared up. I turned to them. "Hey, could you guys wait outside for a minute or two? I've got something to say to Liz and Sili." They nodded in acquiescence and I embraced my girls.

"Just remember the plan, alright? I'll see you in the real world if all this actually works. If it doesn't, well, I'll have tried anyway, and you know the failsafe, Rika." She nodded with a tear in her eye.

"Be careful, love," she murmured, and I kissed her lightly. Turning to my sister, I embraced her and planted a kiss on the top of her head, stroking Pina all the while.

"I have to go. I'll see you guys later, alright?" I said, pulling away and making to leave. Before I could get too far though, I found myself turned around and lip-locked with Rika.

"For luck," she whispered, pulling apart and letting me leave, breathless. I smiled softly and donned my armor minus the helmet, making my way outside to my rightful place at Kirito's left.

"Ready guys?" I asked, putting a hand on Kirito's shoulder while Asuna did the same. We all knew what was coming next, though I had a better idea than most. With a flash of light, we left the 22nd floor, heading directly to the 55th for the briefing.

Once we materialized in front of Heathcliff's council room, I put on my helmet and drew my dagger, twirling it expertly between my hands. It had received a few upgrades since I had last used it, including an extension on the hilt that turned the lower half into a quarterstaff when slammed against an enemy's skull.

"On three. One, two, THREE!" With that, Kirito pushed open the doors with a flourish, striding in confidently. Asuna followed slightly behind and to his right, and I picked up the tail, still juggling my dagger and walking leisurely but silently. It took us but a minute to approach the war map, and once there we noticed the crowd had parted for us to have a spot at one end. I grinned beneath the helmet.

Once we reached the table, I flipped my dagger into the air and slammed it blade down onto the map, impaling the corner. "Ah, perfect," I sighed in amusement. "Another boss raid. And I was so enjoying my vacation, too!" The other players gazed at me out of the corner of their eyes with some concern; I had grown to be a figure of questionable sanity and enjoyed every minute of it. "So what's the deal, Heathcliff? How are we handling this one?"

I enjoyed the attention my casual disrespect for the Commander garnered, and shrugged, gesturing for him to begin. "Well, I ought to start with the back story. A week ago, we sent a recon team of 10 highly trained players into the boss room. After five minutes, the doors opened again to reveal absolutely nothing. No boss, no players, nothing." A few players gasped; the KotB recon teams were especially well known for their ruthlessness and efficiency in battle. If they couldn't handle something, it was bad.

"Anyways, I made the decision to gather you all here today because you're the best this game has to offer. Our strategy is simple. With me at the head of the charge will be Kirito and Asuna. Behind us will be Sarok. Behind him will be everyone else in order of level and strength with sword, shield, lance, and other weapons in that order. Now, is everyone ready?" Receiving nods from around the table, Heathcliff nodded solemnly and pulled a Corridor Crystal from his inventory. "Let's go, then. Corridor, Open!" he commanded, opening a portal to just outside the boss room.

Once the entire group passed through, we assembled out formation. I stood slightly behind Heathcliff-Kayaba. "Hopefully, this is where it all ends," he murmured, just loud enough for only me to pick up. In a rare show of support, I put a hand on the psycho's shoulder.

He stared inquisitively at my appendage for a moment before yelling for us to march forward. It was time. Without another word, Heathcliff threw open the doors to what would be the final boss in any hopes, and we entered the room, the only sounds coming from hundreds of boots on the stone.

Once everyone had entered the massive room, the doors closed with a bang, startling the players in the back. Looking around, I didn't see any boss, before I had an epiphany. "Look up!" I cried, diving out of the way just in time for a massive skeletal centipede to slam into the ground where I had been a second ago. The boss roared as _five _health bars came into being next to it. Its name was Skull Reaper, and I sighed at the simplicity of it. Kayaba really had no imagination with his names, even going so far as to steal from other games, as my armor indicated.

I didn't have too much time to ruminate, however, as the boss instantly swept its arms, which were giant scythe blades, through two unsuspecting players. Before our eyes, they disappeared in polygons, and I frowned strongly, my determination peaked. There would be only one more death today, and it wouldn't be a player's.

Once again, the blades came down, but fortunately for some downed and shocked players, Heathcliff blocked the strike with his shield. Expecting the boss to agro on him, I was certainly not prepared for it to shunt him out of the way and end the lives of the players. Screaming in rage as I watched their lives extinguished, I took to endless transport between the creatures legs, stabbing, slicing, and attacking it every time I regained my vision. The other players took this as their cue to join me, Kirito and Asuna taking on the scythe-arms with Heathcliff.

It seemed Kayaba knew what he was doing when he decided to bring so many players; within minutes , its health was in the red, and I heard Kirito charge up his big hitter, Starburst Stream. Finally, with one last hit from my brother severing the Reaper's head from its body in a sick twist of irony, the boss blew up in a blast of polygons.

The players cheered, but Kirito wasn't finished yet. He took a swing at Heathcliff, too fast for him to notice, and was stopped by a purple barrier. I sighed; of course it had come to this. Luckily, my plan wasn't entirely ruined. I could still save things. Subtly adjusting myself so I was directly behind Asuna, it came as no surprise to me when the paralysis hit. I had planted my feet on the ground in such a way that I wouldn't be knocked down from the shockwave, and made every effort not to fall over as Kirito so=poke with Kayaba.

"Yes. I am Akihiko Kayaba." Heathcliff's voice rang through the silence. "I am curious as to how you found out, Kirito. Surely your friend Sarok didn't tell you?" Kirito simply laughed.

"No, but he helped. I figured it out about a week before this. Things hadn't been adding up about you. I knew there was something wrong but couldn't really tell what yet."

Kayaba took a few moments to finally make his offer. "Alright then, Kirito. I have a proposition for you. Fight me; here, now. If you win, I die and the game is cleared. If I win, however, the rest of the players here will find me waiting on the hundredth floor." Kirito considered his offer.

"Kirito, don't!" a half dozen voice cried out. Mine wasn't one of them. Curious, Kirito turned to me, and I moved my eyes up and down in a nodding motion. He turned back to Kayaba. "I accept, with one condition. Make it so Asuna can't kill herself right away if I die."

"No, Kirito, that isn't fair! That isn't fair!" My heart nearly broke at the sight of Asuna's tears, but I forced myself to be strong. Everything was proceeding according to plan.

"Agil, thanks for everything. I know you've been helping the low level players; that's why I never argued too hard with you about pricing. Klein, sorry for leaving you behind that first day." Agil stayed silent at Kirito's admission, a single tear rolling down the man's face, while Klein acted differently.

"No, Kirito, don't say that! Don't say that ever again! After this, you and I are going to get out of her and share a pizza on the other side, do you understand that?!" Kirito nodded with a sad smile; finally, he turned to face me.

"Sarok. My brother in all but blood. You've taught me so much these past two years. Thank you." With that, he turned to face Kayaba. I let the tears come, solely focused on my chance. I watched in silence as Kayaba deactivated his invincibility and prepared to duel Kirito. I wanted to interfere, badly, but I couldn't. Not yet.

The battle went on for what seemed to be an eternity, before Kayaba gained the advantage and prepared to strike the final blow. Unfortunately, I was so focused that I didn't notice Asuna had overcome her status until it was too late; she took the blow meant for Kiito and died in his arms. I grimaced. It was now or never.

"Kayaba, wait a moment." I said, catching the man off guard. "Kirito, catch!" I broke the paralysis that was never there and threw the Divine Stone of Resurrection to him; he caught it and immediately started chanting to return Asuna to the living as I charged forward, activating the true potential of my unique skill.

When I reached Kayaba, I had grown in height considerably. More so, I was jet black in appearance and had no visible face, only red eyes and a slight curve of lips. My wings had grown to massive size, and I had a crown on my head. "Did you forget about my skill, Kayaba?!" I bellowed, my voice rattling the chamber. "If I give up all that I am, I gain everything I was meant to be in this game: the most powerful player in existence!" My right arm was no longer a blade, it was a massive blood-red scythe.

Kayaba stood in shock as I approached. I stopped directly in front of him. "Hell calls forth its demons, Kayaba!" I spoke, laughing maniacally, "And let me say, I. AM. HELL. ITSELF!" With that, I thrust my scythe towards Kayaba's body. Unfortunately, it had hit his shield, causing me to recoil in pain as my health dropped dangerously low. Kayaba regained his senses and faced me, having realized I didn't have much fight in me.

"You can't keep up that form for long, kid!" he screamed, hammering at my defenses for as long as he could. I was laughing insanely the entire way; it was actually quite fun. When I reached the red zone of my health, I backed off from the man, waiting for my reinforcements to arrive. Just on time, I saw Liz rematerialize in front of me with a max heal crystal; she used it instantly. I knew that player-specific teleport crystal would come in handy.

"Ah, that hits the spot. Thanks, babe," I said, smiling at Liz. She nodded back and I cracked my neck loudly, facing Kayaba. He appeared too shocked to move, and I laughed. "Did you _really _think I wouldn't make good on my promise to kill you, Kayaba?" The bastard raised his shield half-heartedly. "It's really too bad that I'm not the one who's striking the final blow." Kayaba's eyes widened as two swords burst from his chest; Kirito's Elucidator and Asuna's rapier.

To my immense surprise, Kayaba started chuckling darkly. As his HP dropped further and further, he opened his mouth to speak. "Yes, too bad indeed. I suppose it's also too bad that you didn't notice the failsafe I put into your skill…" His HP dropped to the red and I felt a deep burning in my chest. Looking down, I noticed my body had begun disintegrating. "Yes, you're going to die with me. Then again, so are Kirito and Asuna for killing me. Congratulations." With that, Kayaba's body didn't disappear but exploded in a flurry of sharp polygons, impaling Kirito, Asuna, and to my dismay Liz.

"NO!" I screamed as more and more of my body became nothing. "No, no, no, no." She was dead; my wife had died in my arms. It was rather appropriate now I thought of it; in order to fully lose my humanity I had to leave that which I held most dear behind as well. I fell to what remained of my knees in despair, staring at the spot that Liz used to be even as the last parts of my body disappeared.

After I died, I found myself overlooking the massive castle Aincrad as it fell floor by floor into the void. Next to me I found my wife Rika, my brother Kirito, and my sister Asuna. We couldn't see the floor; yet strangely, we knew we were safe. "Hey guys," I had said. "Feels nice to finally let go, doesn't it?" They nodded without speaking. We stood in total silence for another few minutes, our arms wrapped around each other.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" a new voice entered the fray, and we turned as one to see a young man in a lab coat and glasses. He had short light brown hair and a slight smile. I gestured for him to come over to us; I knew who he was and saw no reason to be hostile anymore.

"Kayaba," I greeted him distantly. "I suppose everyone's woken up by now, right?" He nodded, and I smiled, breaking off from my family to shake his hand. "Good work. You might be a bastard, but you're just as dead as the rest of us."

Kayaba stared at me in amusement. "I'd always wanted to see that floating city in the sky. Ever since I was a child I've dreamed of that place, that unassailable construct. I wanted to see firsthand the wonders and adventures that would be created, but I just didn't feel that the stakes would be high enough to truly enjoy existence there. That's why I made Sword Art Online the way it was." He looked at the sky and sighed.

"Kirito, you're probably wondering about the Dual Wielding Skill. You got it for having the fastest reaction time of anyone in the game. You were truly the paragon of strength and hope in the world." Kirito made no effort to respond. "Sarok, you received Devil Deal. That skill is… complicated. Its strength depends on the user's current level of sanity, his willingness to sacrifice himself, and the strength of his control. That you became so… perfect… to make a full transformation… I'm glad I gave you that skill." I frowned.

"But why was it given then?" I asked.

Kayaba considered my question for a moment. "Devil Deal belongs to you because of your penchant for darkness. While there were many other candidates, the system chose you not because of how dark you could get but because of how you used that darkness. Time and time again you saved with your blackness when you could just as easily condemn."

I was struck silent by the man's words. I hadn't realized the impact I had on others to the extent that he was making it out to be. "Thanks, then," I said, shaking his hand. "And Kayaba?" He raised an eyebrow. "Sorry you had to resort to this for some happiness, some contentedness. I feel for you." Whatever I was expecting from my empathy, it wasn't the tear that trailed the programmer's face. A few seconds afterwards, Kayaba turned away from us and walked away, disappearing into the wind not ten paces into his walk.

Impassively, I made my way back to my family and sat on the edge of the platform with them. Putting my arm around Liz, I watched the castle disintegrate floor by floor. Liz leaned her head on my shoulder and I sighed. "I'm glad I met you guys. You've been my family through all of this, and I've even found the one thing I've been searching for; love." At this, I squeezed my wife to me. "It's been a great run. Speaking of, Kirito, Asuna, what are your names in the real world? I never got around to getting them."

"Kirigaya Kazuto," Kirito said, even as Asuna said "Yuuki Asuna."

"You guys already know Rika, and I'm clearly named Charles Galat. Expect a call from me when we all get out of here." They nodded and we watched as the palace atop Aincrad fell to the system. Sighing again at the loss of my home for the past two and some years, I turned to my wife and kissed her lightly on the lips one final time in the game of Sword Art Online.


	15. Death is Only the Beginning

_Epilogue: Death is Only the Beginning_

I woke with a start in a hospital. Throwing off my NerveGear, and struggling to move, I called out for a nurse. "I'm assuming I'm in a hospital, here. Would anyone care to help me out of bed?" Unfortunately, all that exited my mouth was a rasp of air, likely from not using my voice in over two years. However, as soon as my movement was noticed, a nurse rushed over to me.

"Charles, is it?" I nodded, and the nurse smiled in relief. "Welcome back to the land of the living. Would you like me to get your parents?" My eyes watered slightly, but I shook my head, pointing to my throat with an emaciated hand. The woman nodded and fetched a large glass of water, helping me drink until I had had my fill.

"Thank you," I said, my voice still raspy but not awful. "Now, my parents are here?" she nodded, and I sighed. "How long have they been here?"

"Eighteen months," she replied nervously. I sighed again and closed my eyes.

"Wait a moment before you see them in. Do you have a mirror nearby?" The nurse hesitated and gave me all the confirmation I needed. "Fuck, it carried over, didn't it? Is it the eyes or the veins?" Shocked at my knowledge, the woman simply stared at me. "Whatever, just hand me the damn mirror."

Once the nurse had gotten the will to hold up the mirror, I swore at my reflection. It was worse than I had previously thought. My entire face was streaked with black veins, and my eyes were blood red. "Well, better see in Mom and Pop. I have a certain beautiful wife of mine to see after all this physical therapy bullshit, and I want to introduce her to my family."

Suddenly, the door to my room opened. Expecting my parents, I was surprised to see a man in a suit instead. "And who the hell are you, then?" I asked rudely.

"My name is Kikuoka Seijiro, and I'm with the Sword Art Online Victim Rescue Force. I have a few questions for you, _Sarok._" Growling low in my throat, I waved a hand from my bedridden state and the nurse left hesitantly.

"I suppose from your division that I should refer to you as _Agent _Kikuoka? Anyways, ask away. I haven't got all day." I clearly did, and I didn't know why I was being so snide, but the man grated on me for whatever reason.

"Fine. I have a few questions regarding your actions inside the game. Then, I would like to offer you a position on my team since you're over the legal age and clearly already know your way around computers." I considered his offer.

"Before you start, I'd like to ask a concession from you. I want the legal addresses of Kirigaya Kazuto, Yuuki Asuna, and Shinozaki Rika as well as the hospitals they're currently being held in. They are my family for all intents and purposes." The agent nodded in acquiescence, pulling a file folder from his jacket and putting it on my bedside table.

"Alright, so down to business. I'll be asking all the questions first, then let you answer them one by one to cut down on time. I understand your parents are eager to meet you again after so long. First, can you explain the strange markings on your face? You're the only player to have changed physical appearance so drastically after returning from the game. Second, can you explain the number of kills we have attributed to your screen name? Lastly, how well did you know Akihiko Kayaba?"

I replied easily. The man deserved my cooperation after giving me my information so readily. "The final question is the easiest; I didn't really know the man at all. He was a brilliant programmer, but he was a bastard at heart, and nearly killed me twice. I hated him." I paused and took a sip of water weakly. "The second question is a bit harder, but not much. Most all my kills were to defend those close to me. I never really went on a rampage I couldn't justify. The first question is the hardest, though. The changes in my face can be solely laid at Kayaba's feet?"

Agent Kikuoka raised an eyebrow. "How so? Does it have to do with Devil Deal?" I frowned before shrugging; of course he knew I had Devil Deal.

"Well, yeah, I suppose it does," I replied evenly. "I was mostly resigned when I saw myself in the mirror; during the last battle when I gave everything up the system probably made the changes permanent. I don't think Kayaba meant for it to happen, but Cardinal doesn't like to listen sometimes. AI is like that."

There was a stony silence for a bit. "Can I see my parents now?" I finally asked. Kikuoka nodded and made to leave the room, stopping just before the door.

"I'll be in touch about your new job and living quarters. Good luck, Sarok." He left my room with dignity, and I fell back onto my pillow with a sigh of relief. The meeting had taken a lot out of me, and I still needed to see my parents. It appeared I was in for a long day.

The next month passed in a blur of physical rehabilitation. My parents visited several times, and after two weeks I managed to secure a trip to the hospital where Rika was held. The trip was scheduled for the start of the next month, since I would then be able to walk only with the assistance of a cane. I was excited, though, and had gotten my hair cut since waking up. Unfortunately, Kikuoka had decided that as a general rule I should wear a mask in public to obscure my more unsettling features, so I had a piece of black steel molded to the bottom half of my face. Only my eyes were visible, but at least the mask was removable.

On the morning of my trip, I hobbled out to the car my new boss had provided me and got in. I was dressed in a dark suit, and in the back seat Kikuoka was waiting for me. "Ah, nice to see you, Sarok. Excited to see your partner?" I nodded resignedly. "Good, good. Now, I have information regarding your exact position for the upcoming year," he started, catching my attention. I still hadn't heard what exactly I would be doing for him. "You're going to be put in charge of the network throughout the Sword Art Online Recovery School. Essentially, you will keep it running and prevent anyone from interfering in its programs."

I smiled when Kikuoka finished, glad for the position. If there were two things I knew how to do, it was code and love my wife, and I would be able to do both since she would be attending the school for a year. It seemed I would be given the opportunity to see her every day, and I was rather pleased. Granted, she wasn't my wife in the real world, and we would undoubtedly have to tune down our affections as we got to know each other again; however, we were both looking forward to it.

After a few minutes of idle chatter regarding my responsibilities for the next year, the driver signaled that we had arrived. Nodding to the agent and bidding him a good day, I climbed gingerly out of the car and retrieved my cane. Looking up into the face of the building, I grinned. I had a good feeling about my meeting, and I had surreptitiously taken some flowers from my bedside for her.

When I entered the hospital, I stopped at the front desk to check in. The attendant stared curiously at me for a moment before shrugging and telling me where I could find Rika. I thanked him and wearily limped to the nearest elevator so I could reach her room. It had taken me far too much effort to get this far, and I was beginning to feel tired at the thought of more walking.

It took five more minutes to locate Rika's room, and I stood outside with my fist poised to knock on the door when it opened. Thankfully, I stopped myself from following through and bonking the figure in the face, but it took some noticeable effort. When I had retracted my hand, I met the warm visage of the man I assumed to be my wife's father. "Hello, sir," I greeted, holding out a hand. "My name is Charles, and I'm here to see Rika. I assume that she is your daughter?" He started in surprise at my introduction as a squeal of pleased surprise issued from inside the room.

"You're the one who stole my daughter's heart while in that infernal game, then?" he asked roughly, eliciting a small nervous chuckle from me.

"Uh, yeah, sir, I hope you don't mind or anything, we hope to take things a bit slower here in the real world now we aren't fighting for our lives every other step…" I trailed off, meeting the man's eyes defiantly but apprehensively.

Fortunately, the man only smiled and shook my hand firmly. "Good to know she finally found someone for her," he told me. "You have my blessing, son." I blinked in shock; I certainly was _not _expecting that. When Rika's father stepped aside to allow me entrance, I strode in with as much dignity as I could muster, stopping at the foot of the bed. Rika was lying down at the time, the sheets pulled up to her face rather cutely.

"Hello love," I spoke softly. "How've you been? I brought you some flowers." I pulled the plants from behind my back and put them on her bedside, taking a seat on the bed next to her. Leaning over, I brushed some hair out of her face lovingly.

"I've been better, but everything's fine now you're here," she replied just as softly. "How about you? And more importantly, why are you wearing that mask?" I winced slightly. For some reason I was concerned about my appearance around her, even though out of anyone she would be the most likely to accept me. With a shaking hand, I pulled the steel from my face and set it on the table next to the flowers.

"This is why I wear the mask," I said, tremors running through my voice. "My skill carried over a bit into the real world. I wear the mask so I don't scare anyone too much. I don't really care what people think of me, but it would be a bit difficult for my job if everyone could only fear me. As for my personal health, truthfully I'm just thrilled that I can see you now. Nothing else has mattered to me except for getting better as fast as possible so I could see you."

My wife caressed my face with one hand, and I smiled, pushing my cheek into her palm. "I like it," she concluded, causing my eyes to widen in shock. "I got so used to you like this that I think it would look weirder if you looked like the rest of us. It doesn't mean I love you any less." I smiled, leaning down to meet her lips in our first real kiss.

We continued our lip-lock for several moments before we realized with some humor that we still needed to breathe. Breaking apart with a breathless laugh, I hugged her through the sheets and lay next to her, still in full formal attire. She hummed in contentment and mumbled something under her breath. "What was that?" I asked sleepily.

"I said death is only the beginning," Rika replied as we fell asleep next to each other in possibly the least likely place under the least likely circumstances. She was right though. Death in the Death Game was only the beginning of our journey together.


	16. Author's Review

_Author's Review_

Alright, so I've seen a few authors do this at the end of their stories and thought that I would follow along. They would do a self-review at the end of their stories with what went wrong, right, iffy, and some story points. I'll be following that general line of thought over the next few pages.

First, what went wrong?

1) Heathcliff/Kayaba: I don't think I really captured the character of the GM in his persona. I also don't think he would really feel as afraid as he did when I confronted him after his duel with Kirito. The final battle could have gone a bit better as well, too.

2) Epilogue: I suck at writing epilogues and went through three or four separate drafts of the damn thing before settling on the one I uploaded. It's a bit easier considering I have three or four more pseudo-novels coming, but I digress.

3) Real Names: I almost don't like the name Charles Galat. The nationalities don't really mix; Hungarian and Scottish…. I also fail miserably with Japanese names. I found myself incapable of actually making them.

Next, what went right?

1) Plotline: I think I did well with sticking to the general timeline and plotline from canon. I might have been off by a month or so, but all together it's roughly aligned. I didn't include too many dates.

2) Devil Deal: That skill was everything I hoped for when I created it. In case you didn't catch it, the name of the skill is a reference to the Binding of Isaac Steam game because you give up hearts to get items and gain sinister-looking aesthetic appearances through the items you get.

3) Length: The length of the story (novel, really), is both what I expected and what I desired. 99 pages on the dot of content totaling just under 60000 words.

What was iffy?

1) Relationships: I've never experienced a healthy long-term relationship, so I'm no expert on love. I simply observed the long-standing relationships of those around me and introduced the two personalities of Sarok and Lisbeth into them. It may seem a bit fast-paced, but consider for a moment the circumstances by which we got together. We were put into a game where death literally lurked at every corner. Is it any wonder we searched for love so early?

Finally, plot point cleanup:

1) Teleport crystals: The crystals I gave Lisbeth when I finally entered a relationship with her in like Chapter 3 were set to be used in the final battle before it even began to coalesce in my mind. I deliberately left the one keyed to my position unused until then.

2) Unique Skills: Seriously, if I didn't blow my Devil Deal skill so out of proportion and power in that final battle, where would I be? I knew I had to make it epic, and turning into what amounted to be Satan seemed like a good idea at the time.

3) Real Face: Devil Deal's effects carried over into the real world, as you know. This is a reference as well, especially with the general shape of my mask. It's actually pointing to Tokyo Ghoul. I enjoyed the first season immensely, and the red eyes and half-mask made from black steel is an omage to that.

4) Appearance: At the beginning of the game, I never described my in-depth appearance once. That was originally because I wanted you as the reader to become Sarok. Now, though, I'll give you a general run-down of what I imagined my character to look like.

· 6 ft. tall, roundabouts

· Lanky and skinny, likely only 150-170 pounds

· Minimal stubble

· Buzzcut on the top of the head, round a quarter inch all the way around

· Hazel eyes and a perpetual half-smile

· Square chin

· Restless hands

At the end of the epilogue, I mentioned a haircut. This is also an omage to Tokyo Ghoul, but in a lesser way. Since my hair was obviously horrendously long from no upkeep in two years, my goal was to have the hair cover just the top of my eyes and go down to my neck. The hair color is a dark brown, nearly black.

See you next mission, everybody,

Sarok, signing off.


End file.
